Replacing the Void
by DarkenedSakura
Summary: ABANDONED. / Post series. Despite the aftermath, they had kept on going, like a train wreck waiting to happen. But learning truths the hunters were never supposed to know only accelerated the coming of the inevitable crash.
1. Prologue: Tensions

Well, I was going to wait until I had a real beta, but seeing as so many people still nose at this story for some reason, I decided to put up a newer, decent version of the prologue before the other parts go up, just to let people know that I _do_ write better than this and that I really am editing the story. So if you're interested, hopefully that'll tide you over until whenever I get the other parts revised and edited. I was horrible back then, so it's taking longer than I thought. Part 6 will go up with them to alert everyone that it's done, also, so. Until then. And 'then' will be...oh, I say...two, three weeks. Maybe a month at the most.

**Summary:** Post series, definite spoilers. When painful reminders of the past appear, more than memories spill from the wounds. Secrets and suspicions bleed into a final confrontation, a fight not only for the truth, but for the STNJ members' survival.

**Replacing the Void  
****Prologue – Tensions**

Karasuma didn't know how to describe it, but it was driving her insane.

Every day since what happened, the office was so…rigid. It was as though everyone had turned into ice sculptures, showing off their carefully crafted appearances. They weren't supposed to let their emotions interfere with work. Wasn't that what everyone from Zaizen to herself said?

But it wasn't possible. No one could forget Amon and Robin, forget what they meant to them, forget the agonizing hope they had right after what happened at the Factory because maybe, just maybe, they were still alive, forget the crash and burn when time had started to move again.

And then there was the upper management. How could their bosses expect them to move on so easily after they lost two of their own? Was that why they didn't want them to "fraternize" with their fellow workers?

Perhaps they should have done that. Perhaps it would've made the bitter medicine of reality easier to swallow if they didn't know Amon and Robin so well.

She thought back to all those times that Robin tried to make friends with her, when she merely rebuffed her. All those silent drinks with Amon, at Harry's. In retrospect, those memories were too bittersweet.

The first time that those two had disappeared after STN's attack, the hunters couldn't function. However, Amon and Robin's bodies were never found, so they knew, they just _knew_ they were alive, but not where they had gone.

Then what was so different this time? Once again, they were in an incident where by all rights, they should have been dead. Should be dead. Once again, their bodies were never found.

But this time…it was all so different. How could they have died and left them behind? They weren't like that. _They weren't like that,_ Karasuma thought angrily.

Sighing, she shook her head and slammed the car door shut.

Her eyes lingered on the vespa in the parking space next to her before she walked away.

---------------

"Sakaki, wait!"

She entered the elevator just before the doors closed.

"Oh, sorry. G'morning, Karasuma-san."

"Good morning, Sakaki." She leaned against the elevator wall. Why couldn't everything just be like it used to be way back then? Everyone was just…

Karasuma couldn't recall exactly what she had done during that one week of what was supposed to be solace and respite, that recovery period after the Factory's fall. She had wanted to escape, to retreat somewhere relaxing – not a beach or anything typical like that, but still…somewhere. Instead, she lay in her apartment, thinking. Trying not to think. Trying to hold onto those few strands of memory she still had, and trying to let them go all at once.

It was a good thing that she didn't drink too much that week, or she would have had quite a few hangovers.

She dimly recalled meeting Sakaki, Doujima, and Michael at Harry's. When he was finally able to join them in the outside world, it helped. Things just felt better, just a little. And with Master there, she had thought that perhaps they would all finally be able to move on.

When had everything fallen apart? When had everyone distanced themselves from each other? She didn't understand. It had stayed this way for two months, and she didn't understand. She just couldn't.

"Hey, Karasuma-san!"

"Huh?" Startled, she snapped out of her trance and looked at Sakaki.

"We're at the fifth floor." He looked at her quizzically. "What's the matter, something on your mind?"

"No…not really. It's nothing, just the usual."

"Just the usual, eh…" He waited until she exited the elevator, then walked out behind her. "You're still thinking about them?"

Karasuma sighed. "Yeah, I guess… It's just that it's so hard to put it behind us. To forget."

"No one said that we had to forget. We shouldn't. But we have to move on." Even as he was saying this, Sakaki sounded unconvinced of what he himself said.

"I don't – "

"Good morning, Miho, Sakaki." They nodded to Doujima in reply as she walked past them towards the coffee machine, an empty cup in hand.

"Oh, Yurika, get one for me too, will you?"

"Oh, sure." She put on a smile before turning and walking away.

Sakaki went on, while Karasuma watched Doujima's receding form before following him. "Good morning, Michael."

The young boy looked up at them briefly before looking back at the monitor of his computer, his fingers rapidly moving against the keyboard keys. "Oh, good morning, Karasuma-san. Morning, Haruto." The sound of rock music could be heard from the earphones plugging up his ears.

She couldn't believe this. Not today. It was all so…

"Hey, Michael, what's new today?" Sakaki sat back in his usual chair, waiting for a reply.

"Well…" Michael removed his headphones. "The boss said something about meeting in the briefing room to look at a new case any minute now. Something about a witch who caused that string of murders in the upper city region. It's all over the news, and we were lucky that we got past the police this time, because, well…you know."

"Right…" Sakaki murmured, leaning back even farther and propping his feet up.

Karasuma didn't get it. Why, after all this time, were they so persistent in never bringing up the topic of the Factory?

"What, Karasuma?" Michael noticed her eyeing him strangely.

"Why are we always going around the issue every time that something related to the incident comes up?"

"Uh…what incident?" Michael asked with an unsure tone, fingers stilling on the keyboard.

"Are you trying to pretend like it never happened? There's only one thing that I would call 'the incident' – when the Factory was destroyed two months ago!"

"Oh…that incident." The clacking of keys stopped altogether. Sakaki paused as well.

"What do you mean, 'oh, that incident?' Is it something that unimportant anymore? If it's because no one wants to talk about it, why? Are you afraid of something?"

"Absolutely not, Karasuma-sa- "

"Then why do we always dodge the topic whenever we're all together? So we were lucky that we got past the police because, _you know_. Is the subject of SOLOMON losing influence here and of the Factory being completely annihilated that touchy? Is it?"

No one said anything for a few moments.

"Miho." Doujima walked up to Karasuma, handed her a steaming mug of coffee, and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Is there something wrong?"

"_This_ is what's wrong! It's the attitude that our office has had for the past few months! We'll never get over what happened with the Factory if we keep avoiding the topic!" Karasuma was getting to the point where she wanted to vent.

"Excuse me, Karasuma-san, but I think you're avoiding the topic as well."

"What do you mean?" she questioned, fixing her gaze on Sakaki.

"Well, I mean…you keep saying how we're all avoiding the issue, and you keep saying things about how the Factory was destroyed, but… You never say a single thing about…you know, Amon and Robin…"

Murmurs of the mentioned hunters' names came from the others.

Karasuma sighed. "It's not as though anyone else is willing to say anything, and it's not like we can get over the loss of our fellow comrades any easier. It's much harder to accept than the fact that SOLOMON's repute has gone down over the last half year…no, than that the whole political situation of SOLOMON and everything is so unstable."

"I don't know…" Michael said. "It's just so much easier to avoid the topic altogether…to go on thinking that nothing happened…to not remember at all…" He trailed off.

"Yeah, well, there's no way that we even have a chance to forget!" Sakaki said loudly. "I mean, look at this place! Look at our jobs! We're reminded of everything that happened every day here."

"We know, Sakaki," Doujima said. "There's no more Factory, no more taking witches down alive, no more orbo. SOLOMON is arguing with different governments in different countries, especially with ours. Obviously the police are with the government. They're making it that much harder for us to get anything done, which in turn makes the bosses work us harder and longer! Then the police finally let us take the witches down when they realize that they can't do anything against them without our help."

"And somehow this cycle repeats _every single time!_" Karasuma said forcefully. "Not to mention that we're understaffed. How do they expect us to do anything with only three hunters? They haven't even sent us a single replacement!"

"No, Karasuma. It's more like two hunters," Sakaki said pointedly while looking at Doujima.

"What do you mean by that!" Doujima snapped, her voice strained.

"Well, you've fallen back into your old habit. Honestly, the first time that we lost Robin and Amon, you were actually working. What happened to that attitude? I mean, you completely skipped out on the mission yesterday and didn't even show up! I had to take down that witch all by myself!"

"Hey, you look fine right now; you're not injured or anything. Besides, I thought that you said you could handle a small witch like that," Doujima sneered.

"I never said that, but it would've been nice to have had some sort of backup. Even a backup that can't do anything to help her fellow hunter."

"Take that back!" Doujima yelled, her fists shaking.

Here we go again, Karasuma thought grimly.

"Why should I? It's true, isn't it? Like that time last week when we went after that one witch that was blowing up the buildings a few blocks away. Your aim with your gun was so poor that you almost hit me!"

"Well, it wasn't my fault that you were practically standing right next to him!"

"For God's sake, I was standing maybe five feet away from the guy!"

"Yeah right! You were basically inches away from him! And I didn't hit you, did I?" she retorted.

"That's not the point! You should have had better judgment with shooting if I was as close as you said! Besides, that gun was loaded with very lethal witch hunting bullets! If you had hit me, then who knows how long I would've been out and in the hospital!"

"Huh, you're just the rookie of our group anyway. It's not like it would've mattered."

"Oh, this line coming from the slacker who doesn't do anything and couldn't get anything done if she tried anyway?"

"Why you little - "

"Stop it, both of you!" Karasuma nearly shouted, hands on her hips. "This is exactly what I'm talking about! Everyone's so strung up here that no one says anything anymore! Then when anyone does, it gets close to being a fight! And when we retreat from the issues like this, we'll never get anything resolved! Everything's just so rigid and…dead!"

Everyone completely stopped everything that they were doing, but Karasuma was too wrapped up in what she was saying to notice. "Then it all just explodes, like what happened a second ago! Why haven't we discussed this issue in the whole two months that everything's been like this? We probably could have put this all behind us if we did!"

Everyone lowered his or her eyes. "I don't know, Karasuma-san," Michael quietly said. "I just don't know…"

Sighing, they all returned to whatever they were doing, heading for their desks.

Something was going to give. Things were going to change, or they were going to break.

Karasuma didn't need her Craft to tell her that.

---------------

The smoke of their cigars rose like serpents in the darkness.

"Hasn't enough time passed?" said the voice of one man.

A smirk. "They think they've recovered. SOLOMON thinks it has recovered. It's the perfect time."

"They've underestimated us for so long. Too long."

Deep, dangerous smiles in the dark. "Shall we start, then?"

The smoke from one cigar ceased as its smoker rammed it into the crystal ashtray. "Let the games begin."

Several wine glasses clinked together.

It was a toast to the future.

---------------  
-------------------------------

* * *

**  
**The suffix –san is an honorific attached to the end of one's name that is basically the equivalent of Mr. or Mrs. in English, and a common way to greet someone.

Witch Hunter Robin belongs to...um, whoever it belongs to. Yeah. In other words, not me. Bandai and Sunrise, if I remember correctly.

Mnkay, this has been edited massively. I posted it almost 2 years ago (right now it's July 2006), but now, things are being changed. Wow, I was a ridiculous writer in 8th grade. Either way, this is…slightly different. Same story, same premise, different details. If you've read the old version, I'd advise you to start over. And if you read it from ages ago, thanks for sticking with it even now. I promise I'll finish it one day, haha. No more 2 year hiatuses for me.


	2. Part 1: Rumors

**Disclaimer:** I figured it out! Witch Hunter Robin belongs to the people of Sunrise, and now Bandai as well I guess.

**Vocabulary:  
-san:** an honorific after one's name that is like Mr. or Mrs. in English, a common way to greet someone

**ohayo:** good morning

**konnichiwa:** hello (normally used during the afternoon)**  
-sama: **an honorific that's basically the most respectful one to put at the end of someone's name; usually not used between close friends and only to address very high ranking people, etc

**onegai:** please

**arigato gozaimasu:** thank you very much

**hai:** yes, sure

**demo:** but

**wakari masita:** I understand

**-kun:** an honorific usually used for young boys, though a boss can use it when saying a worker's name

**iie:** no

**shocyou:** (_sho-chi-oh_) chief

**nani:** what

**Replacing the Void  
Part 1 - Rumors**

_Six months after the Factory incident..._

Michael lazily watched the glare of the sun reflecting on his glasses. Before, it wasn't every day that he got to appreciate the shining world outside the STN-J's office. A black car pulling up to the gate blocked his view for a moment. "Huh?"

The car slowed to a stop at the gate, and the window lowered revealing the driver. "Ohayo, Michael."

"More like konnichiwa, Karasuma-san! It's past lunch break! What's up with that?"

"Very funny Michael. Don't you remember that I had that case this morning?"

"Oh yeah, the stake out. Sorry, I completely forgot since I had to monitor Sakaki and Doujima while they were dealing with another witch."

"Hmmm...what about me? I was the lone agent on this one here! Do you have any idea how hard it was to take him down?"

"Judging from the fact that he was incredibly agile, very," Michael replied.

"Huh...you'll understand how hard it is when you have to go out in the field," Karasuma mock sighed.

"And a nice day to you too, Karasuma. There's a pot of coffee that I just made; it'll do you good."

She laughed. "Did they fail another mission? Sure, Michael. See you." The window rolled up before her car drove through the now open gate. He smiled ruefully before leaning against the gatepost again. However, the peace didn't last long.

"Basking in the sun again?" Sakaki asked as he stepped out of the STN-J building.

"Yeah."

"Don't get much chance to now or something?" he asked. "That's a change." He walked over to where Michael stood.

"Well, it's not that. It's kinda strange that even after six months I'm not used to the freedom that I get now." Michael stretched for a moment. "I mean, I have to go outside just to make sure that they're not going to collar me again or anything. You'd think that I'd have gotten adjusted to this new way of life by now, but..." he looked at the noon sun again.

"Eh...if I had to stay confined in one place for a few years I think I'd go crazy," Sakaki remarked. "Glad to see that you're enjoying your new freedom...even if it has been a few months."

"Yeah, well...I guess we're lucky that we got Kosaka confirmed to be our new boss and not some other guy from headquarters that we probably wouldn't get along with."

"Well, you've got that right. Unfortunately, I didn't come out here to discuss stuff like that. Back in the office, Doujima's complaining that she needs you to do something for her."

Michael looked up. "Really? What does she want this time?"

"I think she said something about looking up the current status of some SOLOMON thing or another. Probably a project or some new policy discussion that she doesn't have enough clearance to view."

"I think that's probably it. That or she wants fresh news on the status of the relationship issues between SOLOMON and everyone else. Guess my break's over now." Michael turned and walked into Raven's Flat. Sakaki stayed behind for a moment longer in the pleasant sun. "Hmm...I wonder... Perhaps she wanted information on the supposed... Ah, whatever." He shook his head and reentered the building.

Overhead, the sky seemed to darken before white clouds swept lightly across the vast plain of blue.

---------------

No later than Michael sat down did Doujima hastily come up to him. "Michael, I need you to do something for me."

"Yeah, I know, Haruto told me. What exactly do you want, Doujima-sama?"

"Well...I need information on SOLOMON and you'll have to dig around deep in there for it. About their relations with STN-J and all of the other countries and their police forces."

"Is that all you want? What, can't you get this stuff from your sour- "

Doujima interrupted him, dropping her voice to a low murmur. "Actually, Michael, I need you to search for something for me. Look for information on any hunters that are moving around SOLOMON's offices and locations, especially on any hunters that may have entered Japan recently."

"Hunters...especially if they could be in Japan... Why do you want me to do this?"

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"Well, you stopped asking me this question two months ago..."

"I've heard some rumors about certain things... Please, Michael, onegai. You're the only one that I can get this information from!"

"Outside of your sources I'm your last hope, eh? Alright...it's not like I wouldn't have done it or anything. I just hope you know what you're doing..."

"Don't worry about that, Michael. Arigato gozaimasu!" She hurried away to another part of the office.

Michael turned back to the computer, frowning slightly. _'I almost thought that she relapsed over the Factory incident or something...before she got over it, she kept asking me about hunters from SOLOMON... What could this mean?'_

---------------

At a large airport, a jumbo jet plane landed on the runway. Inside the terminal, a sign hung above the gate that read in several languages, English being just one of them, "Tokyo Narita International Airport."

"_Flight 232 from Milan, Italy has arrived. Please head to terminal..."_

Two passengers, the start of the first class fliers to rush into the airport, stepped out of the gate. They did not look for anyone that might have been waiting for their entrance, but merely proceeded out of the area. Despite their mysterious air and attire, dark clothing with long sleeves and trenchcoats, they did not stick out much in the crowd. The young woman wearing a dress that trailed slightly at her feet stopped at a window; the man walking with her halted as well.

"So we're back here again..."

"You said that you were ready."

"No, don't be mistaken; I am."

---------------

The bald headed man sat down in the black upholstered seat. "Eh, so it's my office now..." Kosaka leaned back in his chair, thinking. _'Even though Zaizen's...dead, I'm not quite sure why they decided to promote me to the Director of STN-J. Everyone thought that they would have sent in a new person. After all, that's what SOLOMON does. Perhaps they let me because I'm more familiar with everything here... Unfortunately, we don't have a chief anymore since I'm now the Director, but that means that I have to do all of that work too! We need some replacements around here...'_ The phone rang, interrupting his musings. Kosaka quickly picked it up, merely listening and not responding for a few moments to whoever was on the line. "Hai...hai...eh? Hunters? Ah...demo... Wakari masita." Kosaka hung up the phone. "Hunters... Hattori-kun?" There was no response. "Hattori-kun!"

The secretary appeared a few moments later, a stack of books in his arms. "Hai?"

"Have there been any new notices today besides what I've gotten from STN already?"

"Iie, shocyou..."

"Well then, is Doujima back yet?"

"Iie..."

"Then where is Michael?"

"He's out there, working in the office..." Hattori said, opening the door.

Michael was typing rapidly at his computer, blasting rock music into his ears. _'I wonder why Doujima really asked me to look into this. Maybe she's losing influence with her contacts...or maybe they don't trust us anymore..._' A small frown was visible at the corner of his mouth, but it quickly changed to a taut line of shock as two windows popped up on his screen. In both of them there were bars showing the downloading of data and the words "profile loading." A few seconds after, several more windows came up with many sized paragraphs in them. Michael stopped typing, his eyes quickly scanning over the words. _"What?"_

"Michael-kun!" Kosaka had stepped out of his office and was now standing right next to Michael.

The young man immediately took his earphones out of his ears. "Oh, uh...hai?"

"I need you to look at something for me."

'_Another person wants me to look into something today? Something must be going on...'_ "Okay, boss, but could you tell me when Doujima-sama, Sakaki and Karasuma-san will be back? There's something that I have to show everyone."

"Well, Sakaki and Karasuma are finishing that case up, the one that Doujima apparently bungled up this morning. This time Karasuma's going with him instead."

"And Doujima?" Michael asked.

"She's out running some errands since she's not on the mission. Which reminds me; I need you to monitor Karasuma and Sakaki's mission right now. They should be reporting in at any second."

"Yes, boss."

"Oh, and Michael?" Kosaka paused for a moment. "Was what you were going to show everyone...anything to do with the Hunters?"

---------------

"Geez, the guy should be coming out by now!" Sakaki tapped his foot agitatedly.

Karasuma turned from looking out the window of the car to rest her gaze on him. "Be patient. Because of this morning, he's probably very cautious."

"Yeah, well, that wasn't my fault. If only Doujima didn't scare him off..."

"Sakaki, give Yurika a break for once. After all, you sometimes do that as well."

"That's..." He stopped when he saw the door of the abandoned warehouse that they were waiting at open. _'Then again, with all of these branches in front of our vehicle, it could have been my imagination...and the leaves...'_

"Michael, this is Karasuma. The target has exited the building and we're going after him now."

"Gotcha. Be careful, this guy – "

"We know, Michael," Sakaki spoke into his communicator. "He more likely than not can control some of the earth element or the ground. This'll be simple." He opened the car door. "Let's go, Karasuma-san." When both of them were out, they sneakily approached the slightly overweight witch, who was walking towards his car and seemingly did not notice them. That is, until Sakaki stepped on a small branch and lost his footing.

Even the man could hear the thud of Sakaki hitting the ground. He looked around wildly. "Who's there?"

"Damn." Sakaki hastily got up, not even bothering to brush himself off. "He's noticed us." He quickly moved so that he could get a better shot, firing his gun.

'_Missed again...not by more than an inch or so though. Sakaki, if only you hadn't done that...'_ Karasuma started moving stealthily around to the opposite side of the area so that she'd end up behind the target. He did not notice her and instead moved cautiously towards where Sakaki stood. "More of you people...you all should leave me alone!" The ground around the hunter started to shake. "Go after some other murderer or whatever! Leave me alone!" Sakaki gritted his teeth and tried to run. However, the earth around his feet trembled even harder and he was thrown off balance. "Now you'll stop coming after m- " He gasped after the loud bang and held onto his left arm tightly, trying to stop the bleeding. "Damn you!"

Karasuma moved before the witch could cause a tremor where she was. "Michael. The bullet only grazed him – but now he's lost what little control he had."

Sakaki got up. The witch saw this and started to run, oblivious to where he was going. He ran inside the warehouse through the open door, not even bothering to close and lock it. "He must really be on the ropes now! Karasuma, cover me, will you?" Sakaki didn't bother to wait for an answer as he rushed into the building. There were rows and rows of shelves. The witch could have been anywhere.

"Haruto, he's to your left in the passage between the fourth and fifth shelves," Michael's voice informed him from the communicator.

"Thanks, Michael." Sakaki ran towards the area that Michael indicated, only to hear footsteps a few feet away from there instead. _'He's moving like a rabbit, so he's gotta be really panicked now. Way to go for a guy who unflinchingly murdered five people with his powers.'_

He turned a corner to find the heavyset man standing there. "I've been waiting for you..." Before Sakaki could react, the witch's powers hit the spot he was standing on with full force. "Now you die!" Sakaki struggled with the shifting floor in a vain attempt to keep his balance. He sunk to his knees, but held out his gun and shot, once, twice, three times. The man simply laughed as the bullets hit the walls around him. Suddenly, the ground stopped shaking. The man clutched at his neck, screaming, before he collapsed and hit the ground.

Behind him, Karasuma stood with her gun aimed at where his head was a moment ago. "Michael. This is Karasuma. We've got him."

"Alright, the clearing team's already on their way to get that guy out of there. You and Sakaki can go now. Get back to the office as soon as you can; there's some very important stuff that I think you should hear about. Doujima's on her way as well."

"Michael? What news?"

There was no answer.

"He must have gone for something or another. Probably a walk. What could be so important about this so-called news?" Sakaki asked as he got to his feet, dusting off his jacket.

"Beats me. Guess we should head back right away."

"Maybe he's going to tell us that Doujima's getting..."

"Sakaki!"

---------------

"Michael!" Doujima rushed in, getting the hacker's attention. "What do you have?"

"Well..."

"You mean you didn't find _anything_?"

"It's not that. I want to tell everyone this, and Sakaki and Karasuma are coming back from their mission. You know, the one that you - "

"Well, then what's the point of you getting me to come here so quickly?" she pouted. "You know, you could have just..."

"Hey you guys. What did you need us to hear so urgently?" Karasuma asked as she and Sakaki walked up to the other two. "Did something happen to SOLOMON?"

"Not quite. Hey, somebody get the chief, will you?" Michael called out.

"He's not the chief, he's the director!" Hattori shouted back, walking towards Kosaka's office.

"Hey, he does both the director's and the chief's job, so it doesn't matter. Besides, you always call him shocyou, don't you?"

Hattori made no reply and "hmphed" before knocking on the door.

"Why do you need him to come out?" Doujima asked.

"He's the chief, and besides, you weren't the only one that was looking for this information," Michael replied simply.

'_Information?'_ both Karasuma and Sakaki thought at once.

Kosaka emerged a moment later. "So, Michael, what have you found?"

"Plenty." He started typing, and windows started to come up on his monitor. "I believe that SOLOMON's finally realized that we're understaffed and decided to send not one, but two replacement hunters here."

"Two?" Doujima asked, amazed.

"Finally, we get some notice around here," Sakaki muttered.

"Anyway, these two hunters seem to have joined STN pretty recently. Maybe that's why they're sending these hunters now; they're so new that they have nowhere else to go. However...there are some weird things about them. They've only been with STN for around three months, but they've developed reputations as expert hunters. From what I've seen, they haven't failed a single mission."

"Well..." Doujima started to speak. "Some people are just..."

"Another thing I've found is that somehow these two are always partnered up together. Even when they're being transferred to another branch of the STN, they stay together. I'm not sure why, but apparently they refused to work unless they were allowed to remain together. This is pretty unusual considering that most hunters don't know each other before they start working for SOLOMON, and an amount of time less than three months is awfully short to bond that strongly with anyone."

"Who knows, maybe they're lovers," Doujima joked.

"Doujima...the task on hand, please?" Sakaki sighed in annoyance. "We don't even know who they are yet. Besides, not everything is like that in the real world."

"_Anyway_," Michael continued, "they're supposed to be so good that one of them is going to be the new leader of you guys, the hunters here, when he or she comes."

"That's a relief," Karasuma said as though a great weight had been lifted from her shoulders.

"I know," Sakaki said. "I mean, I thought that you made a good leader when you had to do that, but when it got switched to me, it was just...really hard."

"To tell you the truth, I couldn't handle being a leader at all. That's why I requested that you take that position for the time being," Karasuma said. "Besides, it's made you a better hunter, or at least I think so. Oh, and you became a much better hunter during these few months as well, Yurika," she quickly said. _'At least it's the truth.'_

"Maybe, but I wasn't going to say anything about that..."

"Well, maybe it was because you weren't really a "spy" for SOLOMON that much these last few months and you weren't "special" anymore, but I think you're doing a bit better," Sakaki commented.

"Why you...!" Doujima breathed deeply for a moment. "Michael, one thing I'm wondering about is...how did you get a hold of the information?"

"Well, I think I found it because SOLOMON didn't think that it was crucial to keep it classified anymore. It seems that the hunters are flying out here to Japan already, and they should be here at...some time today."

"_What?_" Kosaka's mouth hung open. "Why didn't they tell me that? They only said that a hunter or two was coming to STN-J soon!"

"Maybe they just don't trust us with information as much as they used to," Sakaki volunteered.

"It's been six months, so you'd think that they'd have put more faith in us by now..." Karasuma wondered out loud. "And it's not like we knew anything about the Factory, either. It was all Zaizen's doing."

"At any rate, we have to welcome the new hunters!" Kosaka clapped his hands together. "Michael, what do they look like? Can you pull up their pictures?"

"Hmmm..." Michael started typing rapidly again. He frowned. "This can't be..." His fingers pounded against the keys.

"Michael? What's wrong?" Sakaki asked.

"Well...I can't get a hold of them."

"Nani?"

"They won't come up. Absolutely no specific information on either of the hunters exists or is accessible. Either someone with a very high rank has locked these files, or else..."

"Or else what?" Sakaki pressed.

"That, or someone deleted them."

"So wait, there's absolutely _no_ information on either of the hunters that are going to get here today?" Doujima restated.

"Exactly. This is very..."

"I've never heard of these hunters before, as prestigious as they sound... Maybe they are..." Karasuma trailed off.

"Maybe. Now, if you'll excuse me," Michael said, standing up and causing the others to back up a few feet, "I'm going to get some fresh air."

---------------

The two dark clothed people sat at a table under an awning in the afternoon air. One of them idly watched the dancing flame of the candle as the breeze played with it. The other one was counting out money to pay the bill for their meal. The young woman who had been staring at the flame looked up to the man, locks of her hair caught in the light wind. "Are we going there right away?"

"Hai."

Michael was once again outside in the slightly dimming afternoon light. _'Things are finally back to normal around here...or at least as much as they can be... Things have changed, of course. Everyone works harder, and two of the hunters here have especially reformed. Kosaka is now also our chief and our director, which is better than having another Zaizen-like person, I guess. I even heard from Zaizen that his uptight secretary seems to miss Robin. Of course, he didn't mention that he did, but I think that he does. _

'_Amon and Robin have seemed to have left this world along with Factory...that part does feel like it's the hardest one to accept... Well, when you believe what Doujima thinks, which I don't. Then again, can you believe anything that she says?'_ Michael crossed the street and started to walk along the sidewalk.

'_Ain't I right?_

'_However, this...gives me a strange feeling...'_

When he got back, the others were still discussing SOLOMON and the hunters. "Maybe they don't tell us this information because they think that Doujima will inform us of these things," Sakaki thought out loud.

"No, they wouldn't do that," she replied. "SOLOMON still doesn't know that you guys know about my role here."

"Really? Even after the Factory incident, they haven't noticed?" Karasuma pressed.

"Well... I don't think they do. They sure don't act like it."

"Yeah, but remember that SOLOMON's used people before and that they can be good at deceiving others," Karasuma said. "Who knows what their true motivations are..."

"Maybe the new hunters are spies," Sakaki thought. "Though I'm not sure why they would want two of them and not just one..."

"But we really are short of workers here," Michael said. "Maybe they need a spy and the witch hunting here to be more efficient or something."

"Hey! Are you implying that we don't do our jobs well?" Sakaki asked.

"I never said anything like that!"

"Like I said, Michael, you will truly appreciate what we do when you go out on a hunt yourself," Karasuma sighed.

---------------

Downstairs on the first floor, the guard was sitting in his chair, reading his horoscope. "A wonderful encounter. Black is your lucky color..." The sound of a car pulling up could be heard. The guard turned his head. "Hmmm?"

Outside, a figure in a black dress stepped out of the taxi before it pulled away. The older looking girl glanced up at the building before her. "Raven's Flat..."

"Oi." She turned to see that her companion was already inside the gate, barely visible among the columns and metal bars. "Hurry up."

"Uh...hai." She quickly turned and walked at a moderate pace to join her partner.

---------------

"Well, whatever it is...maybe the hunters are here to deal with the police around here?" Sakaki wondered. "After all, their relations have been somewhat strained..."

"They have been getting along better over the last month or two though," Doujima said. "SOLOMON said so, which is a good thing."

"That might be, but..." Karasuma paused. "I still don't trust SOLOMON."

"Hey, none of us do," Michael pointed out. "Well, at least not as much as we used to. I wish we just knew what was going on..."

'_Even so...life has been better than it has been in a long while,'_ Karasuma thought. _'We the hunters are doing better, and Kosaka listens more to us when we have something to say than when Zaizen was around... The Factory and Amon and Robin also aren't that touchy of topics as before...and we're getting along again...but I still don't trust those other people... _

'_I wonder how severely these new hunters will affect our lives now...'_

"You know, we do work for them, and even if we're only "hunters" to them, we should be able to know more than what we do now about what's going on."

"Yeah, I know," Sakaki said. "I guess all we can do is hope that it gets better..."

"When are the new hunters going to get here again?" Kosaka shouted from the other end of the office. Hattori covered his ears.

"I don't know, boss... I've been looking at plane records and ticket sales, and if I'm inferring where they were situated last correctly, then that means they'll be here at - "

"Oh my...this can't be." Karasuma put a hand to her mouth.

"What can't, Miho?" Doujima then looked to the elevator, where Karasuma was staring at. Two figures stood there.

"Amon!"

"_Robin?"_


	3. Part 2: The Replacements

**Disclaimer:** It's not mine. Enough said.

**Note:** Eh, don't get too disappointed in this... It'll work out, promise! Oh, and thanks to all of the people who reviewed, along with my beta(s). You know who you are :)

**Vocabulary:  
iie:** no

**-san:** an honorific after one's name that is like Mr. or Mrs. in English, a common way to greet someone

**demo:** but

**futon:** mattress used for a bed, can be rolled up during the day

**Replacing the Void  
Part 2 - The Replacements**

No one moved, nor did they make a sound. They all watched breathlessly as the two people entered the office area. The two stood there silently, almost forebodingly. Karasuma started to step towards them, stopping abruptly. She took a breath, regaining some confidence, and strode towards them slowly. "Robin...Amon...are you two really...?" She looked at them more closely, but this time she could see that they were...different. The man was around the same height and build as Amon and wore almost the same attire, but there the similarities ended. He was clean-shaven, and his hair was not only coal black but was tinted with steel gray and a nearly unnoticeable slate blue. The face wasn't as long and was less gaunt then that of Amon's, and the nose was sharper. Instead of the orbo necklace that Amon was never without, the man wore an object that had a longer black cross piece. Instead of a tube of green liquid there was an almost spherical orb with a silvery substance in it.

As for the girl, she looked older than Robin's fifteen years of age. She was taller and her face was longer, thinner. Her hair was more of an auburn shade, and many locks of different lengths hung around her face. Most of her hair was held in two ponytails at the back of her head, where it cascaded down like two twin waterfalls to her back. Her lips were fuller, and at the moment they were pursed in a line of stoniness. The young woman walked up closer to the STN-J members, her black dress trailing at her feet. It was tight at the waist, probably because of the dark material wrapped around like a bodice. The collar piece flared out slightly around her neck, as did the end of her dress at her feet. Dark green eyes stared back at the hunters unflinchingly as she spoke.

"I am sorry, but I don't know who you are talking about..." Even her voice had none of the warmth and whisper-like quality of Robin's. It was bolder, to the point, yet somehow still gentle. "My name is Kari, and he," she nodded to the man, "is Tano."

Sakaki struggled to find words. "So, you're...you guys aren't...them?"

"Iie." The STN-J members looked at each other. _'How could this have happened?'_ Karasuma thought, bewildered. _'What's going on here?'_ There was awkward silence.

"Ahem." Kosaka coughed briefly, his fist held up to his mouth. "Why don't we go into my office, Kari and Tano? I'm sure that we have matters to discuss." He was about to leave when he suddenly turned back around. "Oh, Karasuma-san, you should come along as well, seeing as you're the leader of the hunters right now."

She looked at him. "Oh, alright."

"Demo - "

"Quiet Doujima!" Kosaka said sharply, interrupting her. "Now, will you three please follow me?"

After they were gone, Doujima spoke up. "Why can't he just say whatever it is out here?"

"Well," Sakaki replied, "it probably makes him feel more elite or like a boss or something." After a moment, he added, "Then again, he could just be saying things about us that he wouldn't say while we're in hearing range."

"Huh, really. Well, I guess I'm just going to have to ask Miho about it."

---------------

"Now, then." Kosaka shuffled to his desk and sat down in his seat. "I am _terribly_ sorry for the reaction that you received when you arrived. It's just that we had lost two hunters a while back."

"I know that," Tano spoke. His voice was deeper than Amon's and had a certain air to it that Karasuma couldn't identify.

"It's hard to get over, but you two even look like the aforementioned hunters somewhat, so you see..."

"Well, that's some coincidence," Kari said.

"Anyway, I am Kosaka, the director of the STN-J. I do not think that too many things are different here compared to the branch you worked at before, so there should be no problem." He then nodded to the woman standing by the hunters, a small yet noticeable distance between them. "This is Karasuma. She is the current leader of the hunters." They all looked at her only to find that she was studying the two new hunters rather intently. Kari looked down, while Tano stood there, returning her gaze unflinchingly and unemotionally through his dark steel eyes.

Karasuma sighed and relaxed a little, though somewhat reluctantly. "Welcome."

"What I want to know, Tano," Kosaka asked, "is whether or not you're up to the task of leading the STN-J hunters. After all, SOLOMON did say that you were going to."

"I am. It's not a problem," he replied.

"Are you okay with it?" Kosaka asked Karasuma.

"Yes, I am."

Kari flinched slightly when the now former leader's gaze swept over her and Tano. It seemed to hold suspicion and possibly distrust to the girl.

"Well then, I'm sure that you two have matters to attend to regarding your relocation, correct? If so, you may leave early today. In the meantime, you should go meet the other people who work here at STN-J. I'm sure that Karasuma will lead you to wherever you want to go and will answer all of your questions, in addition to introducing you to everyone. Alright, you can go now." The other three nodded to him and exited the room.

Michael and Sakaki were typing at their computers and Doujima was sitting by them, voicing her opinions and theories out loud. At the approach of the other three hunters, they looked up. "Kari, Tano, this is Michael," she said, gesturing to the only one who was furiously punching in keys at the moment, eyes on his monitor.

He hardly acknowledged the two new STN-J members when he greeted them. His tone also wasn't as friendly as his words. "Nice to meet you."

"This is Sakaki." Hearing his name, he swiveled in his seat so that he was facing them fully. "Hey."

"And finally we have Doujima."

The blonde walked up to Kari and Tano. "So, you two are - "

"Yurika, don't hassle them, okay?" Karasuma glanced at the two, both of whom surveyed Doujima with mere mild interest. Tano shifted his gaze to Karasuma, who fidgeted slightly, almost unnoticeably. _'He gives me a bad feeling when he does that. I don't know why, but it alarms me.'_

He then looked to Kari, who spoke up for them both. "What should we be doing?"

Without looking up at them, Michael started to talk. "We have a new case. Everyone should go to the briefing room in a few minutes."

Doujima came up to him, speaking lowly in his ear. "What's up with you?"

He made no reply, feigning to have not heard her. A few moments later the sound of the hammering of keys ceased when Michael disappeared into the room. Sakaki, Karasuma, and Doujima all exchanged looks before following him inside.

The multicolored lights overhead lit up as windows and pictures came up on the large screens. "Watanabe Kiro, age 30," Michael read. "Apparently he killed a group of people in one of those areas at the other end of the city. You know, the ones with all of the alleys and gangs. Supposedly all of the men killed were members of a syndicate, so we're not sure what the provocation was. We have no idea why they would have gone after Watanabe. All of the men were asphyxiated, so more likely than not he can manipulate air or some sort of force to cause that. He's gone back to the area, so it's best to move in now before anything else happens."

"How many people do you need to go on this mission?" Tano asked.

"Well, we don't know how dangerous the witch is. He might be striking out at any innocent bystanders around him or taking full advantage of his powers. Still, I'd say that if only two of you guys go it'd be fine."

"Then we will go," Tano said. It was obvious whom he meant by that.

"But - "Sakaki protested.

"We will go," he repeated.

Karasuma handed Tano a pair of communicators and headsets, which she had gotten from Kosaka. "These are your comm. devices," Michael said. "I'm pretty sure they're self explanatory, providing that you've used them before. I doubt it that you've never heard of them at all, considering that everyone uses them." The other two nodded.

Everyone exited the briefing room, and Tano and Kari headed towards the elevator. "Wait, how are you going to get there?" Sakaki asked. "You don't even have a vehicle or anything!"

"SOLOMON said that there was a car that we could use that was left down there. I have the keys to it." With that, he and Kari left.

"Well." Doujima sighed. "This is so unbelievable!"

"That guy...is so..." Michael shook his head.

However, Karasuma was thinking about other things. "He said that there was an extra vehicle down there, but the only unused car that's parked there is Amon's old one..."

---------------

Once they were in the black car and out of Raven's Flat, Kari sighed, relieved.

"Is something wrong?"

"It went easier than I thought it would, but it was still difficult."

"I thought you said that you were ready." There was silence for a few moments. He glanced at her to see that she had a sad and apologetic look on her face. She was looking down at her hands in her lap. "You'll just have to get used to it." Tano looked at her again. Her expression did not change. Without a shift in his countenance, he turned back to the road. "We're almost there."

A short while later, the two hunters had parked the car and were now wandering around the dark alleyways, searching for the witch. A sudden flash of movement caught Tano's eye. Kari whispered, "He's here."

Her companion spoke into his headset. "We have spotted the target. The mission will now commence."

Michael was on the other end of the line. "Okay."

Tano and Kari slowly walked up to the spot where they saw the man. In the dark, he barely made out the two figures coming towards him. Watanabe started to panic. "Who are you guys?" The hunters merely watched him. "Please, I don't want anymore people coming after me or tryin' to hurt me!"

Kari looked at Tano, who nodded at her.

---------------

Sitting at his computer, Michael suddenly started to type quickly. "What's wrong?" Karasuma asked, sensing Michael's irateness.

"I've lost them. I'm not getting anything from their comm. devices or their headsets. No sounds, and hardly a signal. I'm trying to contact them right now, but it's no good."

---------------

"What happened to those men, Watanabe-san?" Kari asked.

"So you know me? Have you been followin' me?" He paused for a moment. "Those men were part of a group or a gang or somethin'. One of the people I know got mixed up with them, and the next thing I know they're coming after me for somethin' I don't know! I ran like a bat out of hell, and I looked back to see that they were all gaspin' for air and dyin'!" He looked into Kari's eyes. "I know I did it, but I don't know how, and I didn't mean to! I can't live like this, knowing what kind of _thing_ I am!" He looked at Tano, whose gun was held out in his hand. "Please, kill me, shoot me, or somethin'! I can't go on like this!"

Tano shook his head and lowered the weapon. The young woman approached Watanabe carefully. "Do not be afraid, for it will all be better soon..."

---------------

"What's going on?" The computer expert pounded away at the keys furiously. "Those two...they probably shut off their communication devices or something!"

"But Michael, it could've been a witch or some kind of technical thing," Sakaki pointed out. "Besides, why would they have purposefully turned them off?"

Michael did not respond and continued to punch in the keys. "I'll get their devices online and working one way or another."

"Michael. Are you there? The witch has "

"Tano? Why couldn't I get in touch with you and Kari through your communication devices?"

"I do not know what you're talking about. I never noticed if they weren't working."

Michael gritted his teeth. "Alright then, I'll send in the clearing team now since you're done."

"It won't be necessary."

"What do you mean? We have to get the body and any remaining evidence out of there as soon as possible!"

"There is no need." Tano ended the conversation and the transmission.

Michael cursed under his breath. "Damnit all, what is this guy thinking? I don't trust him!"

"Huh, you're like this again," Doujima remarked. "Why are you so edgy, Michael?"

"I'm not!" he scoffed.

"Now tell me, is it because of the new hunters? And why?"

Karasuma stood a little bit apart from the others, Sakaki sitting with her. "Obviously Michael's distraught because of Tano and Kari," Karasuma said quietly. "Is it because of their resemblance to Robin and Amon?"

"Probably. After all, he did seem to need the most time out of all of us to get over their deaths."

"I've always thought that they disappeared instead of... We never did find their bodies, so who knows if they're alive or not. It's just like what Michael says; they're just not the type to die, or like that at least."

"I don't know...somewhere inside me, I hope that they're alive somewhere too. Well, not hope. I really believe it deep down. Maybe."

"The thing is," Karasuma paused, "I'm just not sure...if I can get over their not being here now as well. Those two hunters, they just remind me of everything, and something's...not right about them."

"You really think so?" Sakaki asked.

"I'm not sure yet, but it feels strange, this whole situation..."

A few minutes later, Tano and Kari walked up to the others having returned from the hunt. The moment Michael saw that they were there he started to ask questions. "Why didn't you let me send in the clearing team?"

"There was no need and no body," Tano replied laconically.

"What does that mean?" Doujima asked.

"Exactly what it sounds like," Kari answered.

"No need and no body..." Karasuma repeated. "That's... What are your powers again?"

"Powers had nothing to do with it," the lead hunter said.

"Really? Then explain what you mean by there being no body!"

"When the mission was over, there was no corpse left. The area wasn't disturbed in any way. Why should you send in a clearing team when there's nothing to clear? Now, if you will excuse us, Kari and I have matters to attend to concerning our...settling in." Without another word, the two left as quickly as they had entered. Behind them, no words came from Michael's mouth, but everyone could tell that he was not very pleased.

"Michael, stop making those sounds!" Doujima scolded. "You're being inmature about the whole thing."

"Why should you care? You should go and mind your own business. Besides, you shouldn't be one to call me inmature."

"What? You know, for someone like you, you're so arrogant!"

The two older hunters watched them, deciding not to participate in the little argument. "Well Sakaki, what do you think about this?"

"About what?"

"Well...everything that's been going on recently, really," Karasuma said. "It's strange that they wouldn't let us clear the area. Perhaps they do it differently where they were last?"

"Maybe, but since the Factory is gone, all of the STN branches take out witches and clean up after themselves the same way. Besides, we don't even know what their powers are or what they're doing... I don't know about this. Everything's just gone from stable to unstable in one day. Less than that, actually. If those two were Amon and Robin, none of this would be happening."

"Is this your way of saying, "Oh, if only Amon was here?"" she asked.

"Yeah, I guess. I just wish that things were, well, _normal_ again. With those two here, it was as normal as it could be back then." He sighed.

"I wish that they were here as well..." Karasuma looked out to one of the windows. Gray clouds streaked across the sky, and an ethereal glow came from the crescent moon. _'Where are you, Amon, Robin? I know...no, we know that you're alive, so why aren't you here?_

'_Are you both really dead after all?'_

---------------

Tano fiddled with the keys in his hand for a moment, trying to find the one that would open the apartment door. Kari stood there, watching. It clicked unlocked, allowing entrance, and the more senior of the two allowed for Kari to enter first.

Inside, the hallway was dark and rather bare. The young woman flipped a switch, bathing the beige hallway with a warm light. She stepped into the living room. There was nothing there save for a sofa, a television, and a few cardboard boxes. "I thought that everything was supposed to have arrived by today. That's what they said."

"It will arrive within the week," Tano replied. "We came sooner than they expected us to." His eyes scanned the apartment. "There are two bedrooms, one for me, the other for you."

Kari opened her mouth to speak, but then said nothing. Questioned by his intense eyes, she murmured, "Never mind."

"Your room is the one with the bed."

"The one with the...wait, where will you sleep?"

"There should be a futon laid out in one of the rooms." He walked down a hallway and opened one of the doors.

Before he closed it, Tano could hear Kari's voice, hardly a light whisper. "Good night..."


	4. Part 3: Implausible

**Disclaimer:** Not mine, not mine, not mine...

**Note:** Thanks to you reviewers out there who read my fic:) And to you guys who said that it's one of the better Witch Hunter Robin fics (laughs), well, thanks! If that's really what you mean... And these next parts are gonna come out kinda slow, because I have to finish outlining the whole thing and set my ideas in stone before even more people use them, lol.

**Vocabulary:  
hai:** yes

**demo:** but

**-san:** an honorific after one's name that is like Mr. or Mrs. in English, a common way to greet someone

**iie:** no

**jaa, ne:** well, then

**chikushou:** damn

**daijoubu ka:** are you alright?

**Itai:** ouch

**-kun:** an honorific usually used for young boys, though a boss can use it when saying a worker's name

**nani:** what

**Replacing the Void  
Part 3 - Implausible**

Michael was always first at the office. He did not have to live there anymore, but it was more of a habit now for him to get there early and start plunking away at his keyboard without a care. Soon after, Sakaki and Karasuma would come in and offer their greetings. Doujima always came last. Even though she had a better work ethic now and she didn't have to keep up her façade from before, it didn't stop her from being somewhat lazy.

However, Tano and Kari always entered Raven's Flat after everyone else.

At first, whenever the two new hunters arrived the others would either stop everything they were doing and look at them. In Karasuma and Michael's cases, they would frown at them slightly, either from distrust or dislike. After a week or so, it got to the point that most of the original STN-J members would just seemingly not notice Tano and Kari's entrance. Only Sakaki would volunteer a greeting. Karasuma sometimes would, but with hidden yet obvious suspicion as she did so.

Kari had brought this up while talking to Tano, the only person anyone had really seen her converse with. "They really don't trust us, do they?"

"After what's happened and what's going on I'm not too surprised."

"Hai, demo... Michael is really cold to us. Doujima's on the verge of being like that, and Karasuma definitely doesn't trust us. At least Sakaki isn't like that yet."

"We didn't come here to make friends."

"But... They're not - "

"We did not come to revive anything here either. Remember that."

Kari looked at him, her mouth open in protest. However, she decided to not say what was on her mind. "Hai."

---------------

"Karasuma-san, I thought you knew that it wasn't nice to stare."

"Huh?" She turned in her seat to see Sakaki standing there.

"You know," he smirked, "staring at the new hunters. Not that they seem to notice, but..." Karasuma said nothing. "You know, you three have been giving those guys a hard time here."

"What do you mean?"

"I thought you noticed; you, Doujima, and Michael. I thought that Doujima would be like this, since she was like this when Kate and Robin first came as replacements for the people before them. Michael's just acting strange lately, so who knows about him. But you, Karasuma-san, I didn't think that you'd be so hostile."

"I'm not hostile! I'm just...on my guard. That's all."

"What, you think that they're going to slip knives into our backs when we're not looking or shoot us when we're not paying attention or something?"

"You know what I'm talking about. What we discussed before they got here, and what we thought their motives might have been after that one hunt."

"I still think that it's too soon to judge anything," Sakaki replied.

"Really? We didn't even know that either Doujima or Robin were double agents until the very end! Besides, could you explain what happens to the witches that they hunt? Tano never lets us send in the clearing team. Sooner or later SOLOMON's going to wonder about it, and then we'll have them here meddling in everything."

"It's not like the clearing place is Factory or anything. They aren't going to desperately need witch bodies for orbo or anything. That's why STN-J nullified the ban on witch hunting bullets; we couldn't use orbo anymore. I don't think they'll notice much if not that many carcasses are cleared."

"Sakaki, can _you_ honestly say that you trust them? Tano, Kari, and SOLOMON and whatever it's plotting?" Karasuma asked. "Do you want everything pulled over our eyes again? We were pawns. Pawns in their little power play revolving around proving that orbo was worth using, exterminating witches, and ultimately terminating us hunters as well. We still don't know the full truth about why SOLOMON was against Zaizen and the orbo or rather the whole issue altogether, and it's been over six months! I mean, apparently they didn't want them to access Toudou's old ROM, but they could have just stopped us from using orbo at the very beginning if that was the only reason. Somehow I don't think that's the full story. It got to the point when they were willing to infiltrate the Factory to stop Zaizen from going too far. Nothing that they've been doing lately reassures me of anything at all."

"I don't trust SOLOMON and people and groups like that, but...there are some times where you just have to trust. We trusted Robin in the beginning, and it proved to be a good choice. She was a double agent, sure, but in the end it didn't matter. I just think that we should let these new guys have a chance to prove themselves."

"Yes, but Robin didn't immediately come here and stir up everything like them."

"Robin also didn't come here when the relations between SOLOMON and everyone else were this strained and when two hunters had to be replaced after such a big incident," Sakaki reminded her.

Karasuma sighed. "Even if we do that, I still want to keep an eye on them. Just in case."

"I'm just saying this, that's all." He walked away. Karasuma turned back to watching the two hunters, thinking. _'It's so easy for you to trust, Sakaki, even though you've been hurt before... I'm just not like you. I can't do that; I can't get over everything that's happened to me before so easily. You just can't trust anyone anymore... _I_ can't trust anyone else anymore...'_

He watched her from a distance, a frown at the corner of his mouth.

---------------

"Too many hunts!" Hours later, Doujima walked into the room and sat down, exhausted.

"Did you do anything this time?" Sakaki asked.

"Not much. I went with Tano and Kari, but they were the ones who got the witch. All I had to do was divert the guy towards the two."

"Did you see or hear what happened to the witch?" Michael asked her.

"Iie. I was a short distance away from them, and I couldn't hear anything. I tried asking them about it afterwards, but Tano gave me the cold shoulder and Kari hardly says anything."

"Hmmm." Michael turned back to the computer, eyebrows knitted in thought.

"Hey Doujima, I was meaning to ask you this earlier, but... Have you found any leaks on the whole Factory and SOLOMON thing?" Sakaki inquired. "After so long, something might have gotten out."

"It's not like my contacts would tell me anything about that," Doujima said. "Even if I asked, I don't think that they'd know much. They only knew what, not why." Both of them turned to Michael.

"Don't ask me, I've kept the computer searching every day for all this time and I still haven't found anything. Well, at least nothing conclusive."

"That really sucks." Sakaki glanced at the other three hunters at the other end of the office. Tano and Kari were getting up as if to go somewhere. "I hope we find something soon."

"Yeah, I know," Doujima commented. "I might have to ask some other people that are higher up in SOLOMON for information on the Factory."

"You can do that?"

"Hai. I told you that my parents were pretty high up. It shouldn't be too much of a problem finding stuff from someone."

"You want to know about why SOLOMON was against the orbo, eh..." They all looked up to see Tano standing before them. Before any of them could get a word out, he started to speak again. "And after all of this time, you still care. You still remember." It was more of a statement than a question. He sat down at one of the computers and started to use it, rendering a halt to all previous conversation. The office became quiet with the exception of clacking and typing sounds once more.

---------------

Sakaki blinked repeatedly, looking at the digital clock on his screen. _'It's six already? Since when did time go by so fast without me doing anything?'_ Yawning, he pushed himself away from the desk while in his rolling chair. The wheels made a creaking sound in protest as he got up roughly. "I think I'll go home early today."

"Alright. There's not much left to do anyway," Michael said.

"Jaa, ne." The others briefly noticed his departure. Karasuma sighed. "You know, I think I'll get ready to leave too, if that's fine with all of you."

"No problem, Karasuma-san. There's not much for you guys to do right now," Michael replied.

Sakaki was already down at the parking level of Raven's Flat. "Hmmm...wonder what I'll do tonight...sleep I guess..." He started to blink furiously as he walked towards his bike. A dark blur swept across his line of sight, causing him to rub his eyes. He could hear the patter of feet upon the cement as well. "What the...who's there?"

The click of a gun woke him up.

He quickly dropped to the ground, the bullets hitting the wall where the upper part of his head was a mere moment ago. Sakaki whipped out his gun and tried to find his assailant. He moved from where he was as unnoticeably as he could, trying to get somewhere safe. He spotted a silhouette of a figure standing near the parked vehicles. _'Found him!'_ Sakaki fired several shots, but unfortunately none of them seemed to hit, merely clanging off of metal or concrete. _'Sure hope I didn't hit my bike or their cars or anything...'_ He sidestepped towards the other side of the lot.

"Sakaki? What's going on?"

"Karasuma-s -!" He cried out as he felt a sharp pain in his left arm. "Chikusou!" Gasping, he grabbed his limb and then quickly shot in the direction of where he hoped the person might be.

"Sakaki!" The hunter heard several bangs, followed by the sound of someone running. He could barely make out a black clothed figure before he or she retreated to some other area. He dimly heard someone rushing up to him. "Sakaki, daijoubu ka?"

"Karasuma-san?" He questioned, seeing her squat before him. "What's going on?"

"I don't know," she answered, her voice tense. "How's your arm?"

Sakaki winced. "It hurts, but it was probably a plastic bullet, so no real harm."

"Well, we still have to get you checked out. Alright, you're coming back up to the office with me. We should go right now in case more of these guys are around, and we'll ask Michael about this to see if he knows or can find anything." She frowned. "Do you have any idea who that person was or what he or she was doing here?"

He shook his head. "None at all. When I came down here someone fired at me. We exchanged shots, and he eventually hit me. Then you came and he ran off. I just saw someone wearing all black running past me then. Maybe it was a combat outfit or something."

"Alright. Well, he or she has probably gotten away by now, but maybe Michael can help us out." She helped Sakaki to the elevator. Once they were in the more lit place, she looked at the wound. "It doesn't look that bad. At least you didn't break anything this time."

"Eh, yeah," Sakaki said sheepishly, remembering how he was the only one who received a serious injury during the attack on the STN-J more than seven months ago.

"I doubt it that we'll have to do any more than bandage it."

"Hai..." They remained silent the rest of the way up. When they reached the fifth floor, they got questioning stares. Doujima was quicker to address it than the others, though. "Why are you holding onto Sakaki's shoulder, Miho?"

"Someone was down there. In the parking lot." Everyone froze.

"What?"

"We don't know what he or she was doing, but the person shot Sakaki in the arm."

"Oh, no..." Doujima rushed away somewhere for a moment.

Michael spoke up. "Wait, so this guy just appears out of nowhere and starts shooting Haruto?"

"I don't know," Sakaki replied. "I mean, I think that the person was already there, because I heard noises when I got there. Dunno why someone would sneak into the parking lot, but..."

"Still, I don't get how someone got into there. I know the guard's still down there!" Michael exclaimed. "Maybe they wired the...no, that can't be..."

"What do you mean?" Sakaki asked.

"Before you go off on wild tangents, check if the guard's still there," Karasuma suggested. Michael quickly picked up the phone and dialed in a number. After a few moments of asking questions, he hung up. "Like I said, he's there. We managed to up security and surveillance on the first floor after the first time that we were attacked. You know..." he stopped for a moment, thinking. "The guy probably got in through the tunnel entrance."

"Wait, you mean where we drive our cars in? That's not possible!" Sakaki exclaimed.

"Not exactly that one, but still, why not? After that incident, we were pulling for better security. Obviously we've gotten somewhere, but they've had to look over those little things while they try to afford security for the rest of the place. There are two tunnels, one of which is watched over by the guard and is the one that we all come in by. However, if you think about it, there's the other side tunnel that most of you go out by to consider. It's not supposed to be known to anyone outside since it's hidden, but if someone who wanted to get in found out about it, they could probably surpass the limited boundaries we've set up. Geez, I've told everyone that we needed a security check, but no one listened to me..."

"They'll listen to you now though, Michael," Doujima remarked as she walked towards them carrying a small medical kit. Karasuma took it from her and started to work on treating Sakaki's injury. "Roll up your sleeve so that I can clean it a bit."

"Why don't you just take him to the hospital?" Kari asked somewhat timidly.

"It's not a serious wound," Karasuma said tensely while dabbing at the blood. Sakaki hissed. "Itai! Couldn't you be a bit more gentle with it?"

"I can't help it, you know! But it's not much more than a graze, and besides, it was a plastic bullet. The person obviously wasn't going to kill anyone. Besides, we shouldn't get everyone involved in this."

"You mean you don't want to report this to SOLOMON?" Kari asked.

"We'll tell Kosaka at least. Hey, Hattori, go get the boss, will you?" Michael called out to the secretary that was already rushing all over the place. He nodded and headed for the chief's office.

"Are you guys going to go home right after this?" Doujima questioned, worried.

"Since the person that we saw didn't use real bullets, I don't think that any of us are in danger because they're specifically coming for us," Karasuma said while applying a gauze pad to Sakaki's wound and wrapping it up. "It looked like the guy was after something in the STN-J anyway, so it might even be safer to go home than remain here. Besides, we can't stay here forever and get ourselves worked up over something that we don't exactly know." She finished bandaging his upper arm. "Do you feel fine?"

"Yeah, I - "

"Sakaki-kun! What did you do this time?" Kosaka rushed into the computer area, in a somewhat foul mood from something that the others couldn't identify.

"Hey, I didn't do anything!" the accused hunter protested.

"Really? Well, that's something," Kosaka muttered.

"It's true!" Doujima protested. "Someone shot at him downstairs!"

"Nani?" He listened wide eyed as the others narrated what had happened. "This is an outrage! After all of this, SOLOMON should actually do something to help us for once! I'm going to call them and talk to them directly!"

"Do you really think that it's a good idea to do that?" Tano asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Like Karasuma-san said, we don't want to inform too many people of this. After all, we don't know who the attacker was or what his or her motive was. If we keep quiet, perhaps the person will come again and we'll be able to find out what he or she wanted. We could even catch this individual."

"Will you compromise our safety by doing so?" Michael inquired.

"Hopefully it will never get to that point."

"Still," Michael pressed, "you can't deny that it could happen. Maybe by the time we get our hands on the guy someone will get a serious injury or even end up dead. What would you do then? Would you be willing to let that happen?" He narrowed his eyes.

"If it becomes that kind of a situation then we will address it when it comes. Not now." His tone was to the point and final. "Besides, Sakaki said that he was fine. The perpetrator wasn't aiming to kill, and we'll all be more on our guard now. It should work out."

Kosaka thought for a moment. "Alright then. I trust your advice, Tano, and I won't inform SOLOMON about this. However, I will bring it up with other colleagues of mine, as discreetly as I can. They might be able to help, or at least have access to information." With that, he walked away and to his office.

Hattori followed him shortly. "Wait, what about these papers...?"

The other hunters were silent for a moment. "I guess I'll ask my contacts about this one way or another. Maybe I'll just ask if they've heard anything at all relating to the STN-J lately," Doujima mused.

"Guess that means I'll look around on the net or go digging in SOLOMON's stuff for something," Michael said.

Sakaki yawned. "All of this excitement's making me sleepy. I think I'm gonna get out of here now."

"Yeah, same here," Karasuma said. "Do you still need us here or anything?"

"Iie," Michael replied. "You guys can go ahead and get out of here. you two check out the area where this person was and see if anything's been disturbed or if any evidence was left behind?"

"Sure. We'll contact you if we find anything." With that, the two hunters left, Karasuma gently guiding Sakaki as they walked.

Doujima watched them with a critical eye before turning back to her computer. "Hmmm..."

Tano watched their leaving as well, but with a frown evident on his features.

The two hunters had made their way to the parking level and were searching for anything out of the ordinary, but without avail. "This is pointless," Sakaki muttered. "How hard can it be to find something lying around or anything abnormal here?" He looked around the barren lot. "Maybe they were just trying to get up into the office or something."

"I don't think so." Karasuma opened her eyes and lifted her hand from the hard, cold ground, presumably at the spot where the intruder shot at her partner. She stood up from where she was kneeling. "I can't sense anything, but that's not why I think that. If they wanted to get into the office, then they could have waited until we all went home. It wouldn't have been that hard to keep an eye on Raven's Flat and to make a move once no one was left here. The person also wasn't equipped with anything that could take out anyone, so it would have been foolish to try to get in while we're all here."

"Well...maybe the guy wanted info or something from the database. After all, once we all leave the system's on lockdown, and he'd probably need one of us to get in the computers anyway."

She narrowed her eyebrows. "That's very unlikely. After all, the last group that tried to get into STN-J for anything was SOLOMON, and they were only after the orbo. We don't have anything like that anymore. In fact, STN-J is now basically just like any other STN organization anywhere. We have no secret technology, no ultimate hunter, witch, or craft, no nothing. It just doesn't make sense."

"Then..." Sakaki fumbled for another reason. "Maybe they wanted us to show them something or another, or maybe..."

"None of these ideas sound plausible. Do you think that they could actually be looking for something here in the parking level?"

Sakaki shook his head. "No, of course not. There's nothing down here save our vehicles, which no one would be interested in at all. If they wanted to hijack cars or something, then they could have gone for much easier targets to save themselves the trouble."

"Yeah, you're right." Karasuma dismissed the thought from her mind. "I guess we'll have to wait and see if any other suspicious happenings occur. There's just nothing or no one at the STN-J that anyone would have an interest in."

"Do you think that we could have missed something?" he asked.

She sighed. "No. Kosaka's not like Zaizen; nothing like that would be hidden from us, or at least for long. But...if there was no reason for anyone to break into the STN-J, then why would someone try to? I can't help but wonder if the intruder was..." She shook her head. "Well, in that case, I'll just contact Michael and tell him that we didn't find a single thing. If they want to, they can go over everything with a fine-toothed comb afterwards." She pulled out her communicator and spoke into it for a few moments. Finally, she put the handheld device away. "You sure you can get home alright?"

"What, you think I'm going to crash or get assaulted by the guy or something? Geez, stop worrying about everything so much. It's not like you. Of course I can get back just fine." Sakaki walked to his motorcycle and placed his helmet on his head.

Karasuma walked to her car and opened the door. Before stepping in it, she said, "Me worry? I thought that you were always the concerned one." She slammed the door shut and drove off. Sakaki waited until the sound of her engine was long gone before starting up his bike. He drove out through the tunnel somewhat warily, but then relaxed and wove through the night traffic while trying to get home.

He stepped into the small apartment and flopped onto the sofa without turning on the lights. _'Concerned? Since when was I worried about everyone and everything?'_ Drowsiness forgotten for a short time, he propped his hands up behind his head. _'Maybe she was remembering my concern over those guys when Robin and Amon had disappeared and we were all being overworked. Just 'cause was worried about them back then and that I'm worried about doing well doesn't mean that I'm a worrier like her... I mean, it's not like she has the expectations that I have to meet or the problems that I've had, either...wait, that last part didn't make any..._

'_I'm gonna go to sleep.'_


	5. Part 4: Mechanical Trouble

**Disclaimer:** If I owned it... I don't know what I'd do with Witch Hunter Robin, really. Maybe a sequel (though it probably wouldn't be as good). Or a legalized episode parodying bad fics.

**Note:** Sorry for the long wait AND the extra prolonged wait (which caused this to be updated one month later), as I was...actually, I don't know what in the heck I was doing. I mean, I only outlined so much, and I really need to work on that, as some things in these parts might be more important later on.

Also, the internet went down...curse a certain cable provider for monopolizing the service here...school stuff (Only 20 more days! Not counting my trip days! Yeah!)...and...I was just slow. Whoops...er, I'll make up for it with some messages:

DarkPyroPlanet: Yeah, kinda suspense like eh? And hey, I'm updating, I'm updating! Sure, think whatever you want about the interesting replacements.

Manny PenPen: Thanks for that tip. Yeah, I've worked on it a bit...I noticed that myself this time, lol.

Little Azumi, Robin x Amon, Misora, Lilliah, Wendy, hannahec, others from the boards: Thanks for the support. Means a lot from you guys! I'm so glad that they're in character, 'cause I'm a bit worried about how they'll turn out later.

Thanks to everyone else of course!

**Vocabulary:  
-kun:** an honorific usually used for young boys, though a boss can use it when saying a worker's name

**nani: **what

**-san:** an honorific after one's name that is like Mr. or Mrs. in English, a common way to greet someone

**hai:** yes, sure

**arigato: **thank you

**iie:** no

**Replacing the Void  
Part 4 - Mechanical Trouble**

When she arrived at Raven's Flat, Doujima was quickly ushered into the briefing room. Kosaka looked slightly angry as he scolded her. "You're late again, Doujima-kun!"

"Yeah, well..."

"Never mind now; we have a case that Michael's explaining right now to all of the other hunters that actually make it here _on time_. If you were any later then you would've missed the mission!"

"Alright, alright, chief, don't get your panties in a bunch." She inwardly smirked at his reaction, eyes wide and bulging out of their sockets, mouth agape:

"Nani!?"

"Never mind, chief." She turned to Michael. "So, what is it this time?"

"Mitsui Kaoru, 35. This guy ended up breaking into a bank and stealing quite a sum of money, maybe one million yen or so."

"One million?" Sakaki whistled. "How'd he do it?"

"Judging from his relatives on the witch list, I'd say that it's a good chance that he can shoot blasts of energy like an invisible force. Maybe telekinetic or wind-like. Either way, this guy is dangerous. He probably thinks that he can use his powers to get whatever he wants."

"Where is he now?" Tano asked.

"Well...he doesn't really have a strict schedule, but he's probably at his apartment."

"If we hurry, then we can apprehend him without much trouble," Tano surmised. "Let's go."

Doujima walked alongside Sakaki for a few moments on her way out. "Is your arm any better?" she asked.

"Yeah," he replied coolly. Doujima raised her eyebrows. "What?"

"Nothing," she said. "It's just that you really don't seem to care about it. I mean, you got shot at yesterday from some dangerous guy and you seem so...unconcerned!"

"Like I said, it was nothing. It doesn't really hurt anymore either." He shrugged it off and continued walking. Doujima eyed him curiously. _'I'm sure that he's keeping something from me...but I'm not sure what. I'll just get him to "talk" about it later.'_

When they reached the parking lot, they all got into their vehicles. Sakaki got on his motorcycle and tried to start it up. "Stupid piece of junk...start already!" Hearing the sound of tires squealing to a stop, he looked up to see Doujima in her red sports car.

"You need a ride?" the blonde asked.

Sakaki kicked his bike one more time and the engine grumbled and choked in protest before it started. "Not anymore; I'm fine now."

"Alright. See you at the place, then!" She drove off. Sakaki followed behind, thinking. He was slightly concerned about his vehicle. _'This thing really needs a tune up or something... I should get it checked out soon.'_

---------------

Karasuma paused for a moment before knocking apprehensively on the door. "Mitsui Kaoru? Are you there?"

There was silence for a moment. "I guess he's not here," Sakaki told Tano through his communicator. "Do you have another pl...wait. Hold on a second." The hunter held his breath as the door started to creak open. Suddenly, the wood panel slammed against the wall with a loud bang, leaving Karasuma just enough time to back out of the way. She and Sakaki were surprised to see Mitsui standing in the doorway facing them with an extremely angry expression. "You people are here to get me and put me in jail, aren't you? Aren't you!"

"We - "

"I don't need to hear your lies! Get out of here, and don't come back!" Sections of wall around them started to crumble after having been brutally pounded by the witch's power. He started to walk towards them.

"Karasuma-san, let's go!"

Running through the hallways, it took everything that the two hunters had to evade the blasts. Sakaki couldn't count the number of times that plaster wall and peeling wallpaper seemed to explode merely inches away from him. He wrinkled his nose at the scent of the crushed plaster despite the fact that he was basically running for his life.

While they were running out of the apartment complex with the witch hot on their heels, Karasuma hastily told Tano, "Target is coming out of the building. However, he's very dangerous and not afraid to use his powers."

"I'm not surprised. Get him over here so that we can surround him," he replied smoothly.

"Hai." Karasuma flinched when a trash can almost hit her after being struck towards her by Mitsui. "That's right, just keep running and don't come back!" He saw the two hunters disappear around one side of a brick building. "Heh, you two still there?" He followed their path only to run into Tano and his cold glare. "Get out of my way!" The tall hunter continued to look down on him with a stern expression, unmoving. "What's your problem? If you won't move, then I'll make you!"

Sakaki and Karasuma were standing against the other side of the building, the former peering around the brick corner. "Do you see anything?" Karasuma asked her partner. "This time, maybe we'll see what he and Kari do to the witches."

"I don't think anything out of the ordinary's happening...damn!" He quickly whipped around the side of the wall just before an invisible blast rammed through the spot where he had stood a moment ago. Seconds later, they heard the sound of someone yelling loud and painfully, some unusual smacking sounds, and a shot. They swiftly rounded the corner, expecting the strangest things to meet their eyes. Instead, the two only saw the unfazed hunter standing over the witch's corpse while holding his gun. "Tano! What happened?"

"Nothing, Sakaki. I disposed of the witch like we're supposed to do." He turned on his heel and started to walk past them towards his car.

"Hey, what about the body?" Sakaki shouted after him.

"Isn't your clearing team supposed to take care of that?" he asked before walking away and out of sight.

Karasuma looked at the direction that he had gone for a moment. "Michael, did you catch that?"

"Yeah. I've already sent in the clearing team. Why?" he questioned.

"Isn't this the first time that Tano actually allowed the team to come to a scene, or left behind a body for that matter?"

"Maybe he did it to make us less suspicious of him. Either way, get back here whenever you can so that we can discuss this."

"Hai." She removed her hand from her earpiece, only to see Sakaki's questioning gaze. "Hmm?"

"Have you three been spying on them or something?" he asked, frowning.

"We're not spying...we're just keeping a close eye on them so they can't pull anything shady off."

"And what makes you think that they will?" he probed.

She sighed. "Fine, Sakaki. Let's just get back to the office, and I'll let those two tell you everything, alright?"

He held up his hands. "Sheesh, I was just wondering!" He walked towards his motorcycle, jammed on his helmet, and revved up the engine. It did not start. "Damnit, start already!" he cursed after his third or so try.

"I think you need to get it fixed," Karasuma chuckled, standing next to him. "When did you get your motorcycle anyway?"

"When I first started working for the STN-J, so it's seen a few years."

"Maybe you should call someone to pick it up and check it," she suggested.

He looked at his bike one more time. "I guess I have to." He pulled out a cell phone and dialed a number, then flipped the phone shut after a few minutes. "Someone from the mechanic's is coming right now." He thought for a moment. "I think I'll have to hitch a ride from you today, though."

"Sure, no problem," Karasuma replied as she sat down in the driver's seat and started the car up. "Get in."

There was silence during the entire car ride, though not awkward or unwanted. Hardly a word passed between them for several long minutes.

When they got back to Raven's Flat, Doujima walked up to them. "What took you guys so long? Tano got back a while ago, and Kari's been who knows where since we got back, running errands or something."

"My bike broke down," Sakaki replied. "Had to call someone to pick it up and look at it."

"Really?" She smirked. "Did you break it or crash it or something like that?"

"No, I didn't!" He raised his voice. "Besides, where were you? I thought that you were going on the mission!"

"Well, I would have, but then our dear chief Kosaka decided to send me and Kari somewhere else, to check up on another witch."

"What, he didn't send Kari and Tano together and had to send you two instead?"

"Don't ask me why he does what he does," Doujima shrugged. "Maybe he wanted to split those two up or something. He's probably noticed the fact that they haven't let the clearing team in like we have. However, he probably noticed it a lot later than us. Actually - "

"Doujima!" Kosaka stormed up to them. "If you have time to be standing around chitchatting, then perhaps you could've gone with Kari to get those papers that I wanted!" He walked away in a huff.

Doujima watched him go, irritated. "What's up with him?"

"He's cracking down on the lazy people in this office, that's what," Sakaki replied.

"Why you...!"

Karasuma shook her head and sighed. "Can't you guys grow up for once? I bet Michael's wondering what happened to us by now!"

"Well _you're_ in an awful mood, Miho!" Doujima commented.

"I'm just being focused. We really have to concentrate here!" With that, the senior hunter walked briskly towards Michael's desk. The other two followed.

"What's up with her?" Doujima muttered.

"Beats me," Sakaki replied. "I thought that you'd care more about this meeting thing, since you're one of the ones trying to spy on Tano and Kari."

"We're not spying on them; we're just...you know, keeping track of everything suspicious that they're doing!" she retorted.

"Oh, I see. You're stalking them, then?"

Doujima walked past him in a slight huff, reaching the other two hunters that she had been watching Tano and Kari with. "Michael, anything of interest that I should know of?"

"Not unless you count the fact that on the hunt with Karasuma and Haruto today, Tano actually left the witch's body behind. He killed him with his gun this time, too."

"What? No way!" The blonde turned to Karasuma. "Miho, why didn't you tell me about this?"

"Well, I would have, but you and Sakaki kept arguing. I didn't have a chance to say anything, so I told Michael instead."

"Whatever." Doujima brushed the comment off. "Maybe he's getting wary of us now or something. Why else would he actually leave a body behind?"

"Don't forget that Kari wasn't there either," Karasuma reminded her. "After all, they're always together when the witches disappear mysteriously. She might have something to do with it."

"Maybe. Still, this puzzles me..." Michael thought for a moment. "He evaded the witch's attack and then just shot him?"

"Uh..." Sakaki thought for a moment. "Yeah. What else could he have done? It's not like we saw anything, since the blast was about to hit us."

"No, that's not it... Karasuma-san, didn't you say that the witch screamed _before_ you heard a gunshot?"

"Well..." she paused. "Yes, I'm fairly certain of it." She frowned. "Maybe that means that..." Her eyes grew distant as she thought for a moment. "Michael, did they inform us of Tano being a Craft user?"

"I don't think so..." He scanned his records on the computer. "No. They never even brought up the subject. I assumed that meant that neither of the new hunters had any abilities whatsoever, but I guess it's possible that they just decided not to say anything about it."

"Wait, you're saying that Tano uses some ability to do something to these witches and to make them disappear?" Sakaki asked incredulously.

"No, we're saying that Tano makes the witches fly away to Neverland," Doujima replied sarcastically. "What did you think that we thought? You're so thick sometimes."

He scowled. "That's not what I meant. Besides, he's got no reason to do that. Maybe he's got an ability. So what?"

"I don't know; you tell me," Doujima said. "Why are you so strung out over it anyway?"

"You guys don't need to spy on him. I mean, this is like when we stake out a witch before hunting him or her. Are you going to hunt him next?" Sakaki's voice had a slight edge of bitterness to it.

Michael was taken aback. "Since when were you against hunting witches?"

"It's like you're trailing him in a mission, getting ready to hunt him..." the young hunter repeated.

Karasuma just looked at him. _'What's wrong with him?'_ "We're not going to hunt him. After all, he's one of us, a hunter. We're just...making sure that he's not another threat."

"A threat? Are all new hunters now a threat?" With that question voiced aloud, the rookie walked away, hands casually stuffed in his pockets. Karasuma felt as though in that short time, he had changed to someone that she didn't know, perhaps aged several years..._ 'Could he have been thinking about something from the past?'_ She shook her head as she recalled her own memories. _'We're _not_ hunting him. We're just...watching him. We have not done anything to him...'_

Sakaki sat down at his desk, propping his feet up, leaning back. He rested the back of his head on his hands, random thoughts in his head standing out and mingling together. _'I don't even want to think about it... They should be our comrades, not our enemies. It's like before, in a way. Before Robin...before Kate...before the Factory. Or maybe it's like then...like at that place ...'_ Images came to his mind, images of times now long gone, lost in the other memories accumulated over more than eighteen years. Unwanted memories that he had buried under the mass of accumulated thoughts.

'_Don't. Don't think about it.'_

He quickly leapt up, startling the other STN-J members who looked back at him with confused expressions. His face once again sported the look of carefree nonchalance that he had mastered a long time ago. "I'm taking a break. You know, lunch." He walked out of the office, unstopped.

----------------

The black car slowed to a stop in front of the apartment complex. The driver stepped out, followed by Kari. She moved carefully, cautiously. "Again?"

"Yes," Tano replied. He walked up to the building and pressed one of the buttons alongside a speaker. A voice spoke. "Who is this?"

"You know who this is," Tano merely said. The person at the other end seemed to pause for a moment, digesting the information, before saying, "The door will be open." A click sounded at one of the doors next to them.

Tano opened it, letting Kari and himself enter.

"Welcome, the both of you," a man said, rising up from his seat. Kari watched with slight fascination as the person seemed to materialize from the shadows, his tall form no longer a dark silhouette as he stepped into the light coming from the windows. "What would you like?"

"It's time again."

"Alright, then. Just a moment." The man walked away.

"Already?" Kari asked her companion.

"Yes. Do you see?" He stood still for a moment, allowing Kari to have more than a glance at his features. She could make out his black hair, the other colors fading, and his darkening steel eyes in the light. She fingered her own tresses, auburn but with a tint of honey. "Oh."

He merely looked back at her, matching her gaze with his own.

The man came back into the room. "Are you ready?"

"Yes," Tano said. The man walked up to him and took his orb pendant in his fingers. The sliver shone less now, a dulled light grey. The man closed his eyes. His fingers and the orb both started to glow slightly, the light emanating from them. After a few moments, the man opened his eyes and stepped back. Tano opened his eyes as well and took his necklace in his hands. He watched the silver streaks in it dance with new light once again. "Arigato."

The man merely smiled. "It was nothing. The least that I could do for him." His eyes fell on Kari, who was still gazing at the distinct blue streaks in his locks, the shaped face, the sharp eyes. "And now for you?"

She reached under the collar of her dress, pulling out a red object attached to a black cord around her neck.

---------------

'_Sucks that my bike's down for repairs, 'cause I have to either walk everywhere or depend on someone to drive me.'_ Sighing, Sakaki exited the elevator, it having reached the fifth floor.

"Hey, Haruto!"

He stopped walking and looked around. "Huh?"

"We've been waiting for you! There's a new witch that we got alerted to," Michael called out.

Sakaki walked up to him, glancing around at the office. "Where's everyone else?"

"In the briefing room. Tano and Kari got here a few moments before you did." He walked towards the room in mention, Sakaki following him. Once they were all situated, Michael started to speak.

"Ishimura Haru, 25. Apparently he was seen at three different locations by witnesses where metal objects were shot out of buildings and then grabbed by a person before he ran off."

"It's simple robbery?" Doujima asked.

"Something like that, but apparently this guy can control metal objects," Karasuma replied.

"A human magnet, eh?" Sakaki remarked.

"This could pose a problem in the future," Tano noted. "If he could move things of a larger magnitude, such as bank safes...or building foundations..."

"This is why this mission is currently the one with the highest priority," Kosaka stated.

"As soon as we get a lock on Ishimura's location, we're going after him," Michael said. "We're going to need more than a pair of hunters to take him down."

"How many do you propose is needed then?" Tano asked.

"It's probably safest to send everyone out, really," the hacker replied as he glanced over his monitor.

"Everyone?" the black-haired hunter asked again.

"Is there a problem?" Karasuma asked.

"Iie... Is there really no way for a smaller number of hunters to go?" he pressed.

"Not really," Michael replied, raising his eyebrows. "Why does it matter?"

"We could probably...take care of the hunt on our own," Kari offered somewhat timidly.

"It'd be better for all of you to go," the computer expert replied with a tone of finality.

Karasuma looked at them, her eyes questioning. "Why does it matter, anyway?"

The young girl bowed her head slightly, looking down. "Never mind."

Everyone's gazes switched to the two hunters, but they shrugged them all off.

Leaving the briefing room, Kari and Tano conversed in low tones that the others could not hear. "What should we do, Tano?"

"We have no choice but to go through with the mission. We'll try to not have anything of the sort happening."

"And if it does?" she asked in a worried tone.

"If worst comes to worst..." he paused. "We shall have to worry about it when it comes." He shot a glance at Karasuma, who happened to be walking behind him. She shuddered.

"What's up with that?" Doujima wondered, slightly cross.

"I don't know; maybe it's just that people don't like other people to stare at them or study them. Maybe that's why you're getting the reactions and responses that you've been getting," Sakaki remarked, sounding a little aloof to the others.

"And what's wrong with you?" Doujima asked.

"Nothing at all," Sakaki replied a tiny bit airily. "Nothing at all." He sat down at his desk and began to type at his computer. Doujima and Karasuma exchanged looks. "Sakaki - "

They were interrupted by the ringing of a phone. The tousle-haired hunter quickly reached into a pocket, pulling out his small silver cell phone. "Hold on," he muttered to the other two standing next to him. "Hello?" He paused for a moment, listening to whoever was on the other line. "The mechanic?"

"Hai. I just wanted to inform you that we've taken a look at your motorcycle..."

"What's wrong with it?" Sakaki questioned. _'Whatever it is, hope the repair cost isn't going to be very high...'_

"We've just given it a basic tune-up, but the main thing that seemed to be the problem was..."

"Yeah?" Sakaki nearly held his breath.

"We found an object that appeared to be lodged in the..." The man paused again. _'Wonder if the guy's having a hard time with words today,'_ Sakaki thought before hearing the person finally spit out the next few words. "Well, just come down here whenever you can. You might want to take a look at it."

"Alright..." There was confusion in his voice. "Just what is it, anyway?"

"It's a certain device...when you get here, we can tell you the full details. However, for a brief explanation, it seems to be...a bug."


	6. Part 5: They're Real Enigmas

**Disclaimer:** It's not mine.

**Note:** Wh00t for slow updates. I know, I know...3 and the better part of another month, so...3 ½ months or whatever (er...at the time of completion of this part, at least; I think it's been 4 ¼ months now, but still, major thanks to Riku for helping me straighten this thing out)...sorry, sorry. Didn't mean for that to happen. My muse left, summer started and my mind started to be bored...Naruto and Full Metal Alchemist took up my time...well, sorta. Guess that's not a good enough excuse. But...well, I did art and _other_ writing stuff. Yeah.

The usual thanks to all normal reviewers :) (Especially if you're still keeping up with the story...heh...yeah, tell me if you are.)

Oh, one final thing. Sorry to all dudes who got around...what, 6 Author Alert emails...because I'm reuploading the prologue and parts 1-4. It's nothing big if you've already read the fic and you don't want to reread it, but it's just some style/paragraph errors and stuff like that. Nothing to worry about, and hopefully it won't happen again.

**Vocabulary (I swear I'm cutting down on this part):  
-san:** an honorific after one's name that is like Mr. or Mrs. in English, a common way to greet someone

**hai:** yes, sure

**arigato: **thank you

**iie:** no

**-sama:** an honorific that's basically the most respectful one to put at the end of someone's name; usually not used between close friends and only to address very high ranking people, etc

**sou ka:** I see

**Replacing the Void  
Part 5 - They're Real Enigmas**

Sakaki couldn't believe it.

The other two stared at him. "What's wrong?" Doujima asked.

"The mechanic," he replied, slightly dazed. "They said...my bike's bugged."

"Bugged? As in, someone's spying on you bugged?" the blonde questioned.

"What else could it be?" he replied, a tad snappishly. "I need to go there...check my bike and everything..."

Karasuma quickly took control of the situation. "I'll give you a ride."

'_But who would ever want to bug your motorcycle?'_

_---------------_

'_This is why I stick to cars,'_ Karasuma thought as she watched Sakaki and the mechanic converse with one another.

The latter was pointing to one of the metal exhaust pipes. "We found the device here," he said. "It probably didn't cause your bike to malfunction more or anything, but...here's the bill."

As the rookie paid the mechanic, he asked him a question. "Do you still have the bug?"

"Oh, yeah. Of course." The man took a plastic bag from his desk and handed it to him. "Here you go. Hope you clear up this mess, boy." He then gave him a searching look, as though he was trying to figure out whether Sakaki was either a secret agent or a dangerous criminal.

Both of the STN-J agents sighed. "Let's go, Karasuma-san." He jumped on his motorcycle and started it up, stuffing the plastic bag into his pocket while his partner got into her car.

When they arrived at Raven's Flat and were inside the elevator, the older of the two spoke up. "Can I see it?"

Wordlessly, Sakaki gave her the bag. Karasuma examined the object inside. A simple bugging device comprising of a small chip, small and discreet. She was surprised that the mechanics found it. "Who would want to bug your motorcycle anyway?"

There was a note of confusion in his voice. "I don't know. I just don't know."

"So what's up with the bug?" Once she had spotted her colleagues entering the office, Doujima had rushed up to them with her questions.

Karasuma held the bag out in front of her. "This, you mean? We have no idea."

"How can you not?" she demanded.

"We just don't, alright?" Sakaki sighed tiredly as he flopped into his chair.

Both Karasuma and Doujima were thinking the same thing. _'Looks like his mood hasn't abated.'_

As if he could sense their thoughts centering on him, he looked up. "What?"

"Nothing, nothing," Doujima replied. "I'll just take this – "she plucked the bag out of Karasuma's grasp "– to Michael. Maybe he can figure something out that we can't."

'_At least _he_ won't eventually bite my head off,'_ she thought haughtily as she walked.

"What's up with her?" Sakaki asked.

"Don't ask me," Karasuma said before following in her coworker's steps and walking away.

"What's up with everyone today?" the remaining hunter asked to no one in particular, as they were all gone. "Geez, it's like you all want to get away from me or something," he murmured before realization hit him.

"Hey!"

_---------------_

The desk shook as the man banged his fist on it several times. "It was a simple task! All you had to do was bug them, and you could not even accomplish that!"

Some of the other men standing in the room before the man flinched. One of them, the one who the man was apparently berating, spoke up. "But – "

"No buts! No excuses! You only had to track them down and attach the device. How could you have fumbled up such a simple mission?"

"But...we didn't have much information, no pictures of the individuals, and I just didn't – "

"You just did not listen to me! You could have taken your time, could have put them under surveillance for a short period, but no, you _had_ to rush right in so that you could get the mission over with as soon as possible!" He slammed his fist against the wood again for added effect. "You young people these days, always rushing and stumbling around and never bothering to do something right the first time! Now look at what the result of all of this is! They will be on their guard now, anticipating anything out of the ordinary. They should not have even noticed this, but you have gone ahead and made such a blunder. We cannot possibly have another chance to enter Raven's Flat, much less plant the device again! What were you thinking?"

"But I – "

"Oh, do shut that flap of yours and get out of this room right now. I cannot bear to see the lot of you right now." Nothing but silence was heard after his demand. "Well, what are you waiting for? Get out!"

They did with utmost haste.

"Now, you didn't have to release all of your anger like that," a voice said. On the desk, a black phone sat next to other classy office supplies and organizers. The red light labeled "speakerphone" was lit.

"Do not tell me what to do," the man replied, nearing the end of his patience.

"Scaring away all of the young 'uns like that, what'll it get you?"

"Fear and discipline will do them well."

"It's a different time now. Just...just relax, alright? Opportunities abound for us," the voice reassured.

"You had better be right about this," the man snapped back.

"Am I ever wrong?"

"Oh, do shut your flap."

_---------------_

"Let me see it."

"I don't have it. You could just go to Michael or something, 'cause he had it last," Sakaki replied, slightly irritated. It was bad enough that he had been bugged, but now everyone else was asking him so many things. Some things that he didn't even know the answers to. Couldn't a guy get a break around here?

"Michael's not here right now."

"Well, try going to talk to Doujima about it or something." _'Geez, now Tano has to bother me about it too. Didn't Kari just ask me about this a few seconds ago? So why couldn't he have gotten whatever info he wanted from his partner?_

'_Come to think of it, why are they so interested in this anyway?'_

He idly watched the new hunter approach Doujima with the same question. "Do you know where the bugging device is right now?"

"I don't know, Michael should have it. After all, I gave it to him," she replied as though that settled the whole matter.

If Tano was annoyed with everyone, he didn't show it. "Very well then."

It happened to be at that precise moment that Michael walked into the office. "Doujima-sama, I..." His voice faltered when he saw the discreet look that she gave him and his immediate surroundings.

"Yes, Michael?" Tano asked, wanting him to continue.

"Oh, Tano," Doujima said, cutting him off, "Didn't you want to ask Michael for something?"

He kept his eyes on the both of them, wary, but then turned his gaze to Michael only. "I need to see the device that was retrieved from Sakaki's motorcycle."

"Ah. Right." He quickly led the hunter over to his desk.

"That's it?" He looked at the small object in the bag, raising his eyebrows.

"Yeah. And we have no idea who planted it and why they'd want to. I ran a search like Doujima-sama asked me to, but I didn't really find anything helpful. You can order this thing at quite a few places if you have the right connections, so that doesn't really leave us with a suspect."

He frowned. "I see." After a pause, he added, "This doesn't really give us any leads."

"Sorry."

Tano looked up when Kari approached him, black dress swirling when she stopped by him. "We have a message," she simply said.

He gave her another questioning look, and she nodded.

"Well, look at the time." Kosaka came strolling into the room. "I think I'll leave now today."

"We shall as well," Tano said, motioning to Kari and himself.

"Ah, I will also," Hattori's muffled voice came from somewhere in the back.

Kosaka nodded. "Very well." He turned to the others. "If you all want, you can leave early today as well. The main hunt starts tomorrow, so you might as well rest."

'_The chief's in a good mood,'_ Sakaki thought.

After the other four had left Raven's Flat, Karasuma walked up to Sakaki and placed a hand on his shoulder gently. "It doesn't do anyone well to sulk, you know."

"I wasn't sulking."

She raised her eyebrows, appearing to be slightly amused. "Well, you have been in a bad mood."

"You would've too, if you were in my shoes," he retorted.

"It's been affecting all of us, if you haven't noticed." She started to slip into her coat. "I'm also going to take my leave right now. You need a ride, right?"

"Yeah." The hunter sat in his seat, unmoving.

Karasuma walked to the elevator. "Are you coming?"

"Aa."

Doujima watched them through the corner of her eye. She waited until Sakaki had finally reached where Karasuma stood waiting for him, at what she thought was a painstakingly slow pace. After they had both entered the elevator and reached the lower floor, she turned to Michael. The entire area was deserted save for the two of them. "So?"

"I found a few things."

"What were they?" she questioned loudly.

"Well..." he started, "They both definitely have Crafts."

"We already guessed that, but...anything else?" she asked.

"They seem to have a contact that's pretty influential in SOLOMON's ranks," he responded, gazing at the luminescent monitor screen.

"Oh?" Doujima's interest piqued.

"Well..." Michael continued to type at his computer. "Looking at this – "he handed her a file which had a few sheets of crisp paper in it "– I'd say that they do."

"Hmmm." She studied the documents for a few moments. "Of course, they could also – "

"I don't think that SOLOMON would let hunters that powerful have free reign, so that knocks out that theory."

"You have a point there," she remarked. "Well...whoever it is...did you get anything else about them? Their pasts?"

"That's the thing, there isn't anything on either of their backgrounds."

"It sounds like they're trying to hide something. Or perhaps the person they know is a bit more powerful than we thought?"

"The only people whose existing files have this kind of security are the absolute upper echelons of the organization, Doujima-sama."

"Well..."

Chin cupped in his hand, he glanced at her. "_Existing files._"

"But...SOLOMON would never have allowed such people in the hunter program!" she protested. "They have to know something about their backgrounds to make sure that they aren't threats!"

"That must be where the contact comes in," the hacker said, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose.

"But there are never any exceptions..."

"Are there?"

They looked at each other.

"Maybe we need to know more about their motives instead," Doujima said.

"We've tried that. These two are real enigmas in this whole thing. They appear out of nowhere, with power...seeking nothing, and seemingly knowing someone..."

"Perhaps they're pieces in the game, but instead of being pawns, they're knights. Bishops. Rooks."

"Perhaps," Michael replied. "What does that make us? Simple pawns?"

"I guess so," she said airily. "I still think that there's something that we've missed..."

"Well, I'm still gonna look around a little more, maybe ask a few people some things. You might as well leave now."

"Yeah." She started gathering her things up, glancing at the wall clock.

"Oh, Doujima-sama...who's supposed to be keeping an eye on those two right now, anyway?" he asked, concerned.

She tucked the file folder under her arm. "I hope Miho is. Otherwise, we may miss our chance."

_---------------_

"Yes, we have a reservation," Tano impatiently told the waitress.

"Well then, sir, please wait here until we find the name," she politely said to him.

Kari shifted from foot to foot, hoping that they'd hurry. He was never good with people.

"Excuse me, but they're with me," a man of average height said, walking up to them.

"Ah! Alright then, that takes care of things much faster. If you will follow me, please," the waitress continued, smiling as she led them to their table. "Someone will be with you shortly," she said after they had sat down, and bustled away somewhere else.

"I was wondering when you two would make it," the man commented.

"We had some...unexpected occurrences happen," Tano replied.

"Oh?"

"One of the STN-J hunter's motorcycle had a...listening or tracking device attached to it."

"So you think they already know you're here?" he asked.

"Well," Kari started to say, "he hasn't told us anything or said that anyone was alert to our...being here, but..."

"He meaning..."

"Yes," she answered.

"Ah."

"It's better to be safe than sorry," Tano countered. "He might not have alerted us simply because he doesn't know. And what we don't know in this situation will definitely hurt us."

She said nothing.

"I see." At that point, the waiter came and wrote down their choices of drinks. When he had gone, the other man spoke again. "Couldn't it have been a coincidence? Perhaps this hunter is involved in more than you know?"

"No. Most likely not," Tano said. "He...he's not of the sort to mix with dangerous or shifty people. The most dangerous thing in his life is probably SOLOMON."

"Isn't it for all of us," he replied dryly. "But you're sure that this hunter... Wait, if he's with the STN-J, isn't he..."

"Perhaps, but I haven't seen proof of it. He might just be one of those hunters with no real power, stationed at such a place. We have one of those as well."

"I don't think he knows anything," Kari interjected. "And I don't think he's involved with anything. We know him, anyway."

"Your drinks, sirs and miss," the waiter said with a flourish, handing out the glasses. "Would you like to order anything now? Alright, okay, good."

After he had left, the man continued the conversation. "Now then, you're absolutely sure that it has to be them."

"I'm...we're not completely sure," Tano stated. "But you must admit that out of all the options left, it's the most likely."

"If it really was them, they've been rather stupid about things already. You must admit, such a bungle as that...it's not likely."

"Call it a break for us. Now we know and we know what to look out for."

"Even if they send agents?" the man inquired.

"They probably won't get here anytime soon. It would be too much of a preemptive strike. By wanting to bug us, they obviously aren't sure of the facts that they have, if they have any at all. They're just in the observance stages of an operation. But should they ever learn – "

"Don't worry about it!" the man said. "We have our contacts anyway. And besides, if they get the information, word will undoubtedly leak out to the public and to certain...other people, which will definitely work in your guys' favor. Or at least in hers," he jerked his head towards Kari. "But since you're a companion of hers, then it'll be fine."

Tano narrowed his eyes.

"Don't worry," Kari said to him, trying to reassure him. "He's right – they wouldn't want anything to happen to me. That's what all of you have been constantly telling me, at least."

"We tell it to you for a reason," the man said, grinning. He sipped his iced tea for a few moments.

After the brief lull in the conversation, Tano asked, "Is there any information that we need to know?"

"Well...things have seemed pretty calm if you ask me. No disruptions, no crazy stuff, no weird unexplainable occurrences. It seems to follow you around these days," he said with a wink.

"Absolutely nothing has happened at all during the past few weeks?"

"Eh, I didn't say that. There's always something going on in the uppers of SOLOMON, at least. They're busying themselves with things. Or at least, he is."

"Hmmm. That's not a good sign."

"Well...you never know. They found some other covens right near their headquarters... panicked and sent out hunters just like that, bang bang bang. Went after them bang bang bang as well, if you catch my drift."

"Covens?" Kari asked, eyes slightly widened.

"Well, yeah. Organized groups of witches, right? Doesn't matter; SOLOMON can't get rid of each and every single one of them. When they think they've cleared them out, there'll be a collective sigh from the higher ups and everyone will be back trying to find something to do and wishing there was more action, forgetting about the panic that they were in."

"That sounds about right," Tano remarked. "Do you know what he is busying himself with?"

"Adrian?" He laughed. "Who knows. Perhaps banging on his desk and yelling at subordinates with his amusing speech pattern, him being behind the times? Heh. Probably off after new rumors about the Witches' Eve and all, knowing him. And he bungles it all up too. Eh, he's most likely wrapped up in the next big scheme of his that will "prove" himself to the other higher ups."

"Is that why he's been seeking...such information?"

"Well, yes. Once again, he's nothing to worry about. Judging from the past, it'll take forever before he finds anything conclusive, and he surely won't find out about things he doesn't need to know."

"I hope you're sure about that."

_---------------_

"Exactly why am I here again?" Sakaki asked his partner.

"Well, I had to follow them, and I had no time to drop you off," she replied simply. "Besides, two pairs of eyes are better than one."

Sighing, he leaned back against the upholstery of the booth they were sitting in. "Is there even a point to you trailing those two out to dinner?"

"Yes. They're meeting with someone, but his back's to us, so I can't figure out who it is..." She narrowed her eyes. "But I don't want them to see us, so this will be hard."

"What's the harm in it? You guys just happened to pick the same place to eat. Simple."

"I don't want to have to answer awkward questions, and it just might lead to something we didn't see coming, something that will be a hindrance in the future."

"Well, you never know."

She turned back to him. "It's better to be safe than sorry, Sakaki."

_---------------_

The waiter returned to their table with a platter that had their meals on it. "For you," he plopped something smoking in front of Kari, "and you," a plate of what appeared to be steak or something of that sort for Tano, "and you," a plate of another steaming substance with lemons on the side for the man.

After the waiter had departed, the man turned his attentions to his plate. "Ah, love the filet mignon that they serve here."

Tano rolled his eyes just a little. He knew how many times that man came here to eat.

"Haven't you ever tried anything else here?" Kari asked.

"Well...sorta. Not really. But, hey, like I said, this dish is good. If I ever tire of it, I guess I could always check out something else."

"Mmn."

Tano hated small talk.

_---------------_

"I wish our food was here," Sakaki remarked.

"It will be here soon, Sakaki," Karasuma sighed. "It really isn't that big of a deal to be keeping an eye on them, you know. You don't have to act so...averse to it and everything else."

He merely turned to the waiter that had come to their table.

Karasuma put her hand to her head for a moment. She didn't understand why he was being so difficult over this. She would scry something to figure out what was up with him, but whenever she had tried doing so before for various reasons, it never worked. At least not lately.

Maybe her powers were weakening? No...she didn't have the Orbo anymore, so shouldn't her scrying ability have strengthened instead? It didn't make sense.

None of this did.

_---------------_

A while later, their plates were scraped clean and coffee had been served. "Well, I must thank you two for such a pleasant night out," the man said.

Kari smiled warmly over her mug of coffee.

"Expect to see us again soon, what with everything going on," Tano said.

"Ah. I am but your contact after all." He winked. "Don't worry, I understand. And just remember: be careful. I'm going to tell the others what you've told me, see what they think about it and all. The sooner we can eliminate these possible threats, the better."

"Yes."

"Oh, one more thing. Try not to get mixed up in this. Yes, I know, it's hard to do, seeing our situation, but...they're really not bad people."

"We should be the ones saying that to you."

"Ah. Of course. But just remember."

"We have to be wary around them as well," Tano argued. "They're suspicious of us, and who knows what might culminate from that. Things that neither of us meant to happen might...happen." He knitted his eyebrows together for a moment, as though he recalled something he forgot. "Which reminds me. There will be a hunt that all of us have to participate in."

"Well, that was inevitable, wasn't it?" he drawled.

"You don't understand. This is serious. We don't want them seeing anything that they shouldn't see yet."

"So that does mean that you were planning on telling them about everything sooner or later, right?" he asked, eyes twinkling somewhat.

"They will aid us greatly if we include them later on. It's no use setting things up so that they are against us. However," he emphasized, "we cannot let them know as soon as tomorrow."

"It's tomorrow?" the man asked, slightly taken aback. "Er. I see. I'm sure that it'll work out. One of them sacrificed in the long run for the sake of all the others is worth it, isn't it? And it'll...what's the word...alleviate enough of their suspicions."

"So you wish," Tano remarked in a way that one would've described as surly.

"Yes. Well. Try keeping an eye on them, then. Oh, and...Kari..." he had paused, as though uncertain of what to call her, "They say to tell you that they'll have more information on...it...when you meet with one of them again."

"It?" He glanced at her again with the raised eyebrows. "Ah. Sou ka."

"Don't worry; they'll hurry with it. We have just as many uncertainties and inquiries about it as do you. They're working on it with utmost haste, because after all, the sooner we get this figured out, the stronger and more protected you'll be."

"Yes."

"Well, now. I must bid you two good night. You will both simply be heading back to your place, right?"

"Aa."

"Good. Until later, then."

_---------------_

"They're leaving," Karasuma remarked. "I still can't see the man that they're with at all...I can only see his back. He looks like an average person from around here."

"Won't that make it easier to find him, then," Sakaki remarked.

"Why are you so...against this, Sakaki?" she questioned lightly.

He shifted a little. "Well..."

"Here's your bill," the waiter said, swooping in at the particular moment to leave a leather pad on the table.

"Ah, Karasuma-san, I can pay for that," Sakaki said, quickly reaching for the pad.

Not quickly enough.

"Well...I did drag you all the way out here, so I might as well," she said somewhat airily.

"But – "

"Just let me take care of it," she said, pulling out some Yen notes.

When the waiter came by, he frowned somewhat distastefully at the young man before taking the money.

"Why'd he do that?" he asked.

"Probably frowning at the fact that I'm paying and you're not," Karasuma replied.

Sakaki shook his head. "But..."

"Just forget about it, alright? I mean, it's not like the guy is supposed to pay all the time."

"All the time for what?"

"Never mind, Sakaki."

He gaped at her. "But – "

"Just forget about it."


End file.
